Silence before the storm
by Auric Neko
Summary: Winry gasped. Her chair had barely touched the floor – knocked over by the force of her movement – by the time she had reached the door. She flung it open and ran into the torrential downpour of rain outside, one word dying on her lips;   "Edward…"
1. Chapter 1 Rewritten?

**I set this roughly after the movie, but it's also kind of a mix of the manga and the anime. I actually started to write this when I was about 12 or 13, - 6ish years ago! – so the manga was nowhere near finished at that point, which is why I didn't set it after the end of the manga. I have actually re-written (or started to) this fic, but I can't really be bothered to overhaul the entire plot, so as weak as it is, I thought I'd just leave it be, and just try to revamp the actual writing a little. Maybe one day I'll overdo certain aspects of the plot, but right now, it'll stay pretty much the same. I was most concerned about the failing of my written talent back then, and the way some scenes read, so that's what I focused on when re-writing! :)**

**Anyway, back on track. Ed and Winry are 18 and Al's 14 (mentally 17, but... well, you'll understand if you've seen the movie. If you haven't seen that far in the anime or seen the film... Go watch it! :D There might be spoilers otherwise!) The plot, ****as I've said, is pretty random, but I hope you'll enjoy it, and that it really does seem improved!**

_**SPOILER:**_** I know Hughes is supposed to be dead by now, but I like him so I kept him alive... with absolutely no explanation for why. Haha, sorry!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own FullMetal Alchemist or any of its characters. I would be writing much better and much more publishable fiction for it if I did. Hur hur.**

Edward had been missing for a month now.

It had been two months after he and Al had come back from beyond the gate, and Ed had gone to Central in order deliver a report to General Mustang. It was supposed to have been a quick visit, with Ed returning to Risembool within a few days, but somewhere along the way, he had vanished.

Winry sighed as she stared out of the front window of the house.

Heavy rain had been falling for days.

After Führer King Bradley had been deposed and defeated by Roy Mustang, Edward disappeared through the gate and Al – who had reappeared as a twelve-year-old boy – had been staying with her and granny until the incidents in Central had occurred, two years later. It was then that he and Ed were reunited and both left for the strange world that Edward had been living in for so long.

Winry had thought she would never see either of them again.

Then, about five months later, Ed and Al had returned! With Ed still missing an arm and a leg, but otherwise unharmed, and Al's memories of the time he and Ed had spent searching for a way to restore their bodies revived, Winry had been overjoyed to have them both back. They were a little shady on the details of exactly how they had managed it, making Winry wonder if their methods had been something less than savoury, but she had overlooked questions on the matter in favour of just being happy to have the boys back. But then two months after they had come back, Ed disappeared. Again.

No one knew where he had gone, and no one had seen him go.

Winry missed him. Weeks had passed with no word, and a hollow feeling had begun to take root inside her. Time seemed to drag by in slow, heavy circles, never bringing her any release from the loathsome 'wait' she was forced to endure. Each morning rolled in with nothing but disappointment on its shoulders. Sure, she was used to having to wait, it was a familiar feeling to her, having to wait for both or one of the Elric brothers to return from one of their various endeavours, but this time it felt different. Ed had disappeared with no warning whatsoever! He almost never disappeared without letting _someone_ know where he was headed – especially Alphonse. No, this vanishing left her with a devastating sense of foreboding, and her instincts on these matters were unfortunately correct the vast majority of the time.

Winry sighed once more and began to rise from her chair by the window. As she did so, a flash from outside caught her eye. She peered through the rain to see a young man standing outside the house. A young man with long, rain-drenched, blonde hair.

A young man with an Automail arm.

Winry gasped. Her chair had barely touched the floor – knocked over by the force of her movement – by the time she had reached the door. She flung it open and ran into the torrential downpour of rain outside, one word dying on her lips;

"Edward…"

**Ha-ha, short beginning chapter, and kind of annoying where I left it. :D**

**Please Review!**** I know some of you might have read this before, but it's all shiny (well, sort of) and improved (hopefully)! Love is appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2

Next chapter! Enjoy & Rate & Review 

As she dashed through the rain, her gaze fixed on Edward; Winry felt tears mingle with the rain on her face. He was finally back! But something was wrong. His face was contorted with pain, and as Winry reached him he collapsed to his knees, his flesh arm gripping his metal one. He hadn't even noticed her yet. Winry reached him and shook his arm.

"Edward! What happened to you! EDWARD" she screamed. But he just stared blankly ahead. She gasped as her gaze fell on his Automail arm. It was trashed beyond recognition, and from the flashes of blue light coming from the socket, she could tell that the arm was constantly connecting and disconnecting from the socket and nerve endings. _That must be what's casing him so much pain! _Winry thought. Her gaze then travelled to Ed's torn shirt. It was soaked with dark blood, and there was a deep, nasty looking gash in his stomach.

"Oh Ed…" Winry choked. "What have you done to yourself this time?"

Edward suddenly let out a cry of pain, as his Automail reconnected itself to all the nerves in his arm. Winry squeaked at the sudden noise and placed her hand on Edwards back as she knelt beside him. He jumped as he finally noticed her. His face spun towards hers, and she could see that his beautiful amber eyes were clouded, as if he didn't recognise her. Suddenly, Ed let out a cry of fear and fell backwards away from her. He looked so scared of her… then his eyes cleared and recognition slowly crept across his face.

"Win – Winry!" he choked, his voice barely a whisper. Some of the horror faded from his face, but Winry could tell he was still in a lot of pain. He closed his eyes momentarily and swayed on the spot. Winry was scared he was going to collapse, but then he re-opened his eyes and said,

"I think I need some maintenance, Win…" Winry almost smiled, but as the pain on his face returned, the situation grew serious again.

"Ed! Come on, I have to get you inside! Oh Ed!! What happened to you?!" Winry sobbed as she hauled him to his feet by his good arm. She pulled his arm around her shoulders and they stumbled towards the house together. Ed's face was tense and Winry could tell that he must be in a LOT of pain, but he just gritted his teeth and tried not to make a sound as they struggled through the door.

They tumbled into the warm, brightly lit Rockbell Kitchen.

"GRANNY! AL! QUICK! Come and HELP ME!" Winry screamed into the quiet house. Ed's arm slid from her shoulders as he fell to the floor. He moaned softly, even though he should have been screaming with pain.

Suddenly there was a bump and a clatter as Al and Pinako skidded into the kitchen. They both took in the scene. A blood and rain soaked Ed lying on the floor in clear agony, and Winry also rain soaked, smeared with Ed's blood.

"Brother!" Al yelled, shock all over his fourteen-year-old face. He sprinted to his Brother's side and Knelt by him.

"Brother! What happened to you?" he gasped, worry replacing shock. Winry Quickly turned Ed onto his back and told Al to get a damp cloth and press it to Ed's wound to try to stop the bleeding. Al obeyed as fast as he could while Winry saw to his Automail. His leg seemed to be perfectly in tact, but his arm was in a bad way.

"The metal is crushed and stuck into the socket, but I think I can get it out." Winry said to Pinako. Pinako still seemed to be in shock though, which was unlike her, and merely nodded. Winry gently but firmly wrapped a hand around Ed's crushed, metal arm and placed the other under the release catch on his shoulder.

"Sorry Ed, this might hurt a bit," she whispered into his ear, and with that, she flipped the release catch upward and swiftly pulled on the Automail. A horrible grinding sound filled the kitchen as the metal scraped on Ed's arm socket, but Ed just tensed and gritted his teeth, as usual, not voicing the pain he felt. Winry winced at the high keening sound the metal made but kept on easing the damaged arm from its socket. At last it came free, and immediately the pain on Ed's face reduced and his body relaxed. Al was still pressing a cloth to his stomach and Pinako was still in the doorway, seemingly in a trance. Winry bit her lip as she took in Ed's appearance in the glow of the kitchen lamps. His eyes were closed and his brow was slightly furrowed, but other that the gash in his stomach and his arm, physically, Edward seemed to be okay. Suddenly there was a noise from across the room. Winry jerked her head up to see her Granny bustling around the room collecting Automail parts. She'd snapped out of her trance.

"Al," Pinako said, with her usual resolve. "Get some bandages for Ed's wound, Winry I'm afraid your gonna have to pull another all nighter. Ed will be pretty angry if he wakes up with no arm again!" Al jumped up and rummaged through the medical supplies, producing a roll of bandages and Winry helped her Granny gather all the necessary Automail parts for Ed's new arm. The old one was beyond repair.

**Hmmm… I will put more chapters up! Hope you like! Please R&R!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hmmm chapter 3… Its not so great, but it'll do! Enjoy! **

Winry stretched her tense arm muscles and glowed with pride as she surveyed her finished work. Ed's new arm was gleaming softly in the harsh basement light under which she was working. It was probably the best Automail she'd ever made. Winry got up from her chair, glancing at the clock as she did so. 4:06am. Pinako had been watching over Ed all night so Winry had not been needed upstairs, but now her work was done, she could go see how Ed was doing. Carefully picking up the Metal arm, Winry made her way up the basement steps and up into Ed's old room, where he was sleeping now.

Pinako looked up as Winry ambled into the room carrying her finished Automail.

"How's he doing?" she asked as she set the Automail down on the side table.

"Not brilliantly, but he'll make it," Pinako said grimly. In truth, Ed looked pretty awful. His long, golden-blonde hair had come lose from its ponytail and was fanned around his pale face. He had dark circles rimming his closed eyes, and his grey-white face was twisted into a frown, as though he was having a nightmare. He was only wearing his trousers, as they had cut his shirt off the previous night to bandage his wound, which wasn't as serious as it had first looked. The bleeding had stopped now, and Pinako had repaired Ed's arm socket, though it would pain him for at least two days after he woke up. Winry sighed.

"I finished his arm. It's my best work ever, I reckon." Winry stated, gesturing to the Automail on the table.

"It looks good, Winry. Ed's lucky to have a mechanic as efficient as you." Pinako smiled as she headed towards the door. "I'll leave you to watch him for now. Give me a shout if the fool wakes up." Pinako closed the door behind her, leaving Winry alone with Edward. She pulled a chair up to his bedside. Ed's face was peaceful now, though he still looked pretty exhausted. Winry put her hand to his brow. She jumped. He was burning up. Probably from being out in the rain, plus the stress of his disappearance to… wherever it was he had disappeared. She picked up the cool, damp cloth from the rim of the bowl of cold water by Ed's bed and draped it over his forehead, just like she had done all those years ago after his first Automail surgery. She felt the same love for him as she had then. But she had never told him. Winry looked at his familiar, handsome face and wondered if he felt the same way about her. Sighing, Winry shook her head. Suddenly, there was a quiet knock on the door, and Al came shuffling in.

"Hey Winry, how's Brother doing?" He asked tiredly.

"He's still in pretty bad shape, but I think he'll be O.K." Winry replied, equally as tired as Al. Al rubbed the back of his neck and moved over to the side of Edward's bed.

"I called General Mustang," said Al quietly. Winry looked up.

"Oh? What did he say?" she inquired frowning. Al gave a small smile.

"He cursed Ed for getting into so much trouble, and said, I quote; 'Right well I'd better come over and see how the Pipsqueak is doing then. Trust Ed to eat up all my time.'" Al said, Imitating Mustang's voice. Al grinned. "He acts like he doesn't care, but I think The General really is worried about Brother. They fight a lot, but General Mustang has looked out for Ed for years now. Plus, Ed is one of Roy's best Alchemists!" Al finished. Winry smiled weakly.

"Yeah. I guess Ed is kind of like a son to Roy, though he'd never admit it." Winry said softly. Al stretched.

"Well, if Brother is alright at the moment, I'm going to try and get some sleep. Wake me up if anything happens." Al said as he opened the door. Just before he closed it, he said, "you should get some sleep too Winry, I'm sure brother wouldn't want you losing sleep and health over him. He cares too much for you." Al closed the door with a small smile, leaving Winry to think about what he had said.

**Aw, Poor Ed, it seems he's going to have a visit from Roy! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Yup, it's the next chapter! Enjoy! **

Winry awoke with a start. The soft morning light was filtering through the closed curtains. She was still in the chair beside Edward's bed, and someone had covered her with a blanket. _Probably granny,_ thought Winry. Winry rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked over to Ed's bed. She jumped to see him sitting up, his head grasped in his one hand. He hadn't noticed that she had woken up. Ed's amber eyes were filled with sadness, and his face looked so… lost. Winry hadn't seen him like this since his mother died.

"Ed?" she said softly. He jumped and raised his head from his hand to look at her. He looked like he was struggling to recognise her again, but then his eyes cleared once more.

"Hey Win." He murmured, his voice hoarse from lack of use. "How long have I been out?" he asked, clearing his throat.

"Just the night." She said. Ed closed his eyes briefly. Then tried to get up. As he swung his legs over the edge of the bed he let out a gasp of pain, and his hand flew to his wound on his stomach. He looked down at the bandages wrapped around him.

"Oh," he sighed. Winry's eyes filled with tears.

"Oh Ed," she sobbed, "What happened to you?" Ed looked up, startled by her tears.

"Winry, don't cry! It doesn't hurt that much! See?" he removed his hand from the bandages. Winry coughed angrily.

"Edward, you idiot! You've been missing for over a month, we were all worried sick! Then you just turn up in the state you're in and act like it doesn't matter!" she ranted. She waited for Ed to make his usual comeback, but it never came. Instead he just looked sad. His eyes lowered from her face to the floor.

"I'm sorry I made you worry Winry." He said softly "I…" he broke off and looked out the window. There was the sound of a car door slamming. Ed looked back at Winry.

"Who's that?" He questioned. Winry thought for a moment.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, "Al called General Mustang last night, and he insisted on coming out." There was the sound of voices from outside. "And it sounds like he bought Hughes with him." She finished. Ed sighed and a shadow of his old smile caught Winry off guard. She blushed.

"Just what I need. Stupid General Sarcasm coming to chew my ear of about danger!" he moaned. He looked at Winry, concerned.

"Hey Win, are you O.K? You look hot," he said, reaching out his hand.

"Eh?" Winry's eyes widened. _Whaaat?!_ She thought, misinterpreting his words.

"Your face. It's pink." He said placing a hand on her forehead.

"Oh!" Winry said blushing harder as she realised what he meant. She was Blushing!

"Oh, ahaha" she laughed loudly. "It's just, um… too hot in here! Yeah… Haha!" Ed looked at her strangely.

"Winry your so strange sometimes!" he laughed, a flicker of pain crossing his face as he strained his wound. Winry smiled. At least she had made him laugh. Then she realised what he had said.

"HEY! I am NOT strange!" she scowled, and then tapped him playfully on the head with her wrench. Ed just grinned at her. They fell silent and the room became serious again. Ed sighed, the sadness taking root on his face again. Winry knew that even after the physical pain went away, Edward would be battling with his mental pain for a while. Whatever he had been through must have been terrible for him to show his emotion like this. She decided to go straight to it.

"Ed, what happened?" she said gently, but with stubbornness to her voice. Ed's tortured expression told her that she wasn't going to get a straight answer.

"I… I can't remember. Not totally… What I do remember isn't of any use. All I know is it was…. Horrible… but I don't know why…" Ed's expression of intense pain was almost unbearable. He let out a cry filled with pain and frustration. "I know it was terrible… but… but my mind… it just won't let me…" Ed's voice broke. Winry looked at him with shock. She hadn't seen Ed upset for nearly six years. He wasn't crying. He wasn't that far gone… yet. But she knew, for Ed to be this… broken, he had to be going through hell.

"Ed…" Winry began, but was cut off by the door opening. Al, Roy, Hughes and Pinako all trooped in. Ed struggled back into a sitting position and gave a mild smile.

"Well aren't I the popular one?" he muttered, with only a hint of his old confidence. Winry was still in shock from her conversation with Ed. Al breathed a sigh of relief to see his brother looking more alert. Roy and Hughes stepped further into the room.

"Trust you to give us all the run around, and then turn up a wreck FullMetal!" Roy said grinning arrogantly as usual. Ed just looked at Roy and sighed.

"Sorry… I just…" Ed broke off, looking frustrated. The room fell into a stunned silence. Ed never apologised for anything, nor did he ever ignore a dig from Roy. Roy looked shocked at Edward's response, and Hughes looked grim. Al walked over to the bedside.

"Brother? How are you feeling now?" he asked tentatively. Ed looked up at his younger brother and managed an encouraging smile.

"I'm fine, Al. Don't worry about me. Wounds like these heal quick." He said softly. Winry knew that Al was also referring to Ed's mental state, but kept quiet anyway. Roy tried again.

"So, FullMetal, are you going to tell us what happened to you?" he asked studying Ed carefully. Ed flinched, but recovered himself quickly.

"I don't really remember much right now," He said quietly, his face impassive. "Maybe I hit my head or something." Again, Roy looked uncomfortable at Ed's lack of… personality. Hughes suddenly stepped out from behind Roy, his usual grin hitched on his face.

"Well guys, I reckon we've tired Ed out enough now! You should get some more rest Ed." He said lightly. Winry knew what he was doing, and was grateful. Hughes could tell that Ed wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone, and was getting rid of everyone the easiest way possible. Hughes dragged of a protesting Roy, and Pinako and Al left quietly behind them. Ed flopped back onto his pillows looking exhausted. Winry smiled at him, and then rose from her chair.

"Well Ed, I guess I'll leave you to get some sleep." She said, smiling at him before moving towards the door.

"Win?" Ed's voice followed her.

"Yeah?" she turned, Her hand on the handle. Ed smiled weakly.

"Thanks for watching over me…" he said quietly before closing his eyes. Winry's eyes filled with tears as she closed the door behind her. _I'll always watch over you Ed_ she thought, _always…_

**Ed's not been having a very good time lately has he? I'm so mean to him! This was a long chapter compared to the others… Please Review, next chap will be up soon!**


	5. Chapter 5

Yey

**Yey! It's the next Chapter!! Sorry it took so long! Exam revision… It really sucks… Thanks for all your reviews!! Its great 2 know you all like my story! Please keep reviewing, I love to read ur comments! Thanks! Don't Worry, I'm planning on giving Ed his memory back!**

Winry padded softly down the hallway and into the kitchen. Al was sitting quietly in one chair, Hughes in another. Roy was standing stiffly in the corner, unsure of what to do in someone else's house.

_You can tell he didn't have many school friends, _Winry thought, and smiled slightly.

As she entered the room they all looked up at her.

"How's Brother?" Al inquired.

"Sleeping," She replied, as she made her way over to the kettle.

"Anyone want a cup of tea?" Winry asked looking at each person in turn.

"That'd be great, thanks." Hughes replied with a warm smile, whilst Roy and Al shook their heads. Winry yawed and began rummaging around for mugs.

"You're welcome to stay the Night, Mr. Hughes, Mr. Mustang. We have a spare room, if you don't mind sharing." She said, hoping they would take up the offer. It would be nice to have noise in the house again. It had become so quiet since Ed had returned, and she missed the usual noisy rows Ed would usually start with her or Granny, though she'd never tell _him_ that.

"If it's no trouble then that would be convenient. I want to keep an eye on FullMetal." Roy stated, with military solemnity. Al stood up abruptly, knocking over his chair in the process.

"Uh, Sorry," he muttered. "Excuse me." He walked swiftly from the room, closing the door behind him. Winry sighed and set Hughes' tea down on the table.

"Sorry. Al's been a bit… touchy since Edward came home." Winry smiled tiredly before following after Al, leaving Roy and Hughes in stunned silence.

"Hmm… I wonder if FullMetal has told them anything. Alphonse isn't usually one to get emotional over something _I_ say." Roy pondered. Hughes gave an irritated sigh.

"Is that all you can think about? Investigating for you own reasons? Ed's obviously been through something traumatic, and Al's naturally worried. He's clearly not going to react well to comments about his brother, even your throwaway ones." Hughes frowned at his colleague. Roy held up his hands.

"Whoa, what gotten into you? I didn't mean anything by it! I'm worried about Ed too you know." Hughes sighed,

"I know you are, but just try to keep your comments to yourself." Roy nodded. Hughes took a sip from his tea.

"This is good. Really refreshing. You should have had some." Roy merely shook his head again and moved over to sit in the chair next to Hughes.

"I get the feeling that this will be a difficult stay." Roy muttered. Hughes set his tea down, and sighed.

"I didn't think it would come to this, but I think I have a way to make this more bearable." Roy looked up eagerly.

"What?" Hughes smirked and reached into his jacket pocket.

"Look at all the cute new pictures of Elysia I have!" he gushed waving the photos under Roy's nose. The relief on Roy's face turned to disbelief.

"What?! Oh great, now I have to deal with this too?"

"Aw, come on, you know you want to give in to her unbearable cuteness!" Hughes shoved the photos into Roy's face.

"Nooooooooo!"

Winry gently knocked on the door to Al's room.

"Al can I come in?" she said softly. There was silence for a moment.

"Yes, if it's just you, Winry." She pushed the door open to find Al sitting forlornly on his bed. She moved across the room to sit next to him on the bed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make a scene." Al said quietly. Winry smiled.

"Don't be stupid Al, I'd be worried if you weren't upset. I'm sure Mr. Mustang understands that too, or Mr. Hughes will have explained it to him anyway." Al smiled at that comment, but it wasn't from the heart.

"Winry, do you think Brother will be okay?" Al asked, his Iron-grey eyes filled with sadness. Winry frowned.

"Ed's tough, he bounces off these kind of things. Anyway, worrying about it isn't going to make the situation change, is it? We'll get through this Al, we always do." Alphonse smiled, and this time she knew it was genuine.

"Thank you Winry. I'm going to go and check on Brother. You should go and get some sleep. You were up all night, and I don't want you to get ill" Winry smiled. Alphonse was ever the gentleman. He rose from the bed and left the room silently with another smile. Winry sighed and followed Al out the door. She watched him enter Ed's room after knocking, before heading back to the kitchen.

**Sorry if it's a bit short! I hope you liked the new Chapter, and I'll try to update regularly. If I'm not buried under a pile of coursework, anyway. Please Rate and Review! **


	6. Chapter 6

Oh nooo…I am so sorry it took me so long to update this! Please forgive meee! _ Anyway I REALLY will try to keep my updates more regular, and thanks again for all your reviews! Hmm… sorry not much has happened yet, I'm trying to think up a good way of progressing the story (Ed's memory included) without it being too lame or a let down! Suggestions, crits and comments are all loved! ^___^

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Winry padded down the hallway into the Kitchen only to stop dumbstruck in the doorway. Roy was doing his best to fend off Hughes, who was shoving what seemed to be photos in his face. As she stood there watching, Roy fell backwards off his chair, followed by a pile of photos that had been stacked on the table in front of him.

"Aw come on, how can you resist her? Don't be so cold!" Hughes was pouting as Roy got to his feet letting all the photos fall on the floor. Hughes' eyes glinted.

"You know, I have the ones from her most recent birthday too…" he cackled, pulling a single photo out of his jacket with a flourish. He held it up to Roy's face grinning. Roy's eyes widened and his mouth fell open.

"What? Where did you even find the time to take that?! On second thoughts I don't even want to know…" Roy moaned a slight blush on his face. He huffed loudly and stormed out the front door. Hughes then looked up to see Winry standing speechless in the doorway. He coughed and blushed slightly, and began gathering the photos up of the floor.

"Err, Sorry about the noise, umm, Roy wanted to see my photos…" he said grinning. Winry smiled back.

"I'm not entirely sure I want to know, but what was on that last photo?" she enquired, still smiling. Hughes' grin broadened, and he whipped the photo out with a flourish. Winry took it off him and stared down at it. When she saw what it was, she spluttered and tried to conceal her laughter. Roy was lying on a sofa asleep with what appeared to be chocolate cake smeared all around his mouth with Elysia, asleep on his lap, in a similar situation.

"Oh, that's priceless," Winry, laughed, "You better keep that one safe." Hughes grinned.

"I intend too." He gathered up the last of the photos and stashed them safely in his pockets. Winry rubbed her eyes tiredly as she cleared the empty mugs off the table, making Hughes look up with concern as he sat back down.

"You should get some rest Winry, you look tired." He said, running a hand through his hair. Winry smiled.

"You sound like Al," she said.

"How is he? Edward's return must have been hard on him." Hughes asked softly.

"He's…coping. We all are. I can't say I'm not used to Ed's surprises, and Granny's probably the strongest out of all of us." She moved to sit down opposite him. He folded his arms over his chest and smiled at her.

"Ed's lucky to have you. He probably doesn't realise how lucky he is. I think that if you're looking after him, he'll be fine." He finished. Winry blushed.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far – I mean, err…" she stuttered. She closed her eyes and regained her composure.

"Thanks Mr. Hughes." She smiled gratefully. There was a noise behind them, and Roy clattered back inside.

"Um, I just went for some fresh air…" he muttered, clearly still embarrassed. Winry smiled knowingly before turning to move some spare automail parts of the bench in the corner.

"So, how's the invalid?" Roy enquired casually. She straightened up to face him, arms full.

"He's sleeping, but I think he'll be okay after some rest. I think Al's with him now." She said. _Or rather, I __**hope**__ he'll be ok…_ Winry thought. Roy seemed visibly relieved.

"That's good. Do you mind if I used your bathroom?" he asked politely.

"Sure, It's just down the hallway, the door on the far left." Winry pointed. Roy gave a small nod of thanks and strode purposefully from the room. Hughes stretched in his chair.

"It's been a while since I last saw you, you've grown up quite a lot, Winry." He smiled. "Elysia's been dying too see you, too." Winry moved to sit across from him at the table.

"When Ed gets better we'll all come visit her, I've missed her. Gracia too." Winry said.

"I think they'd like that."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Roy slowly made his way down the hallway until he reached Ed's room. The door was slightly open. Al's quiet voice floated towards him, making Roy lean curiously into the gap.

"Brother, you can't keep doing this. You have to open up to us! I know something bad has happened to you, but if you don't tell me what you can remember then I can't help…" Al finished, sounding upset. Roy chewed his lip. The boys were clearly having a private discussion. He really shouldn't be eavesdropping on it, but… What if Ed told his brother something important? After all, he _was_ here to check up on his subordinate, personal feeling aside… Ed's hoarse voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Al, I'm okay. Really. And I've already told you what I remember. I just need to rest, I'll be fine." He sounded slightly better. There was more character to Ed's voice, but that could easily be to reassure Al. Roy frowned. _If only I could see his face,_ he thought. He nudged the door slightly, widening the gap, and held his breath, praying that they wouldn't notice the movement. The boys continued talking, oblivious to Roy's eavesdropping. He tuned back in on the conversation.

"…you don't get to suffer by yourself, Brother. We're all we've got, remember?" Al sobbed slightly.

"I'm sorry Al. But I'm okay, I promise. If I remember anything new, I'll tell you." Ed said softly. Roy nudged the door again, and he just about could see the two of them. Al had his back to the door, and Ed's bed was facing away from it. He could see Ed's face, looking slightly guilty for upsetting his brother. Al sniffed.

"You better had. You can't hide things from me as well as you used to, Brother." Al teased. "I'm not as young as I look, remember. I'm only a year younger than you, mentally." Ed's face softened, and a ghost of a smile formed on his lips.

"I know, Al" he settled back onto his pillows. Ed looked exhausted. There were dark circles under his eyes, so dark that they looked like bruises. His already pale skin looked washed out and his golden eyes were dull. Burnished gold. His long hair hung around his face, out of its usual ponytail. Roy frowned again, this time out of worry. Just what _had_ happened to Ed?

Suddenly Al stretched and rose from his chair. Roy quickly snatched his face away from the door.

"Well, I'll leave you to rest, Brother. Try to get some sleep. Winry's really worried about you." He heard Al say. Panicking at the thought of being caught eavesdropping, Roy ducked swiftly into the bathroom before Al could exit the room. After he had heard his footsteps recede down the hallway, Roy began to make his way back to the kitchen, mulling over what he had seen and heard.

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Ed's eyes flew open as he woke into darkness. Cold panic flooded his mind. Why was it so dark? Where was he? Slowly, his eyes adjusted to his surroundings, and he slumped back onto the pillows. One of the Rockbell guest rooms materialised around him, the shapes barley visible in the shadowy moonlight streaming through the curtains. Ed sighed, briefly closing his eyes in an attempt to remember the dream that had forced him awake. It was useless. Just like his memories, the dream was refusing to show itself to him. He hissed quietly in frustration and threw his one arm over his eyes. He hated feeling like this, so vulnerable and weak. His mind felt heavy, sluggish and raw. It had dragged itself in bleeding circles, over and over again in an attempt to claw back the memories that eluded him, but the realization that he craved would not come. He would not be allowed to remember. Ed would have been happy with this – this state of not knowing – if that was all there was to it. If he could just forget, he could move on. He didn't really want to remember what had happened to him. Some things were best left buried. But it was not so simple. No, there was something else. A feeling that he couldn't place. It writhed in his stomach and grasped at his heart, it wouldn't let him sleep in peace, and it wouldn't let him forget his forgotten memories. What frustrated Ed the most, was that he couldn't put a name to the feeling. Had he forgotten that too? He could name elements of it. There was a little fear there, and a small amount of anguish, but the largest part of the feeling remained unnamed. Perhaps if he could figure out what feeling was haunting him, his memories would be unlocked. Who knows?

Sighing, Ed painfully raised himself into a sitting position. The wound on his stomach was more painful than he liked to admit. Every movement tore at the raw skin around it, and the gash itself burned and seared constantly. He knew he should probably tell Winry or Pinako that he was in pain, even if it was just for them to check whether it was infected, but he didn't want to worry either of them more than he already had. Besides, it wasn't like he couldn't handle a little pain. He'd had worse. He glanced down at the criss-cross of bandages covering his chest and stomach, wincing as he noted the blotches of blood that were slowly appearing on the white fabric. He would need to change them soon. The house was ringing with the heavy silence that only night could bring, letting Ed know that it was probably past midnight. His throat was dry and sore, and his legs felt stiff. Toying with the idea of getting some water to drink, he carefully swung his legs over the side of the bed. He needed to walk around a bit, and knew that he probably wouldn't get any more sleep tonight anyway. Grimacing, Ed carefully lowered his legs to the floor, before sliding to his feet. _Uh-oh. Not a good idea. _Ed thought, as his legs crumpled beneath him. He tumbled loudly and painfully to the floor, hitting his head as his one arm couldn't hold or balance the weight of his falling body. He lay still for a moment, holding his breath. He could only imagine what Winry would do to him if she found him trying to sneak out of bed in the dead of night. Al had informed him that he had been put on strict bed rest. Luckily though, no one came. As he exhaled, Ed winced at the screaming pain in not only the wound on his stomach, but in the sore muscles all over his body. Ed growled. If he ever remembered who did this to him, they'd pay big time. He squirmed upright, and wriggled his legs, trying to get the feeling to return to them after being inactive for so long. He let out another short hiss of pain as his actions jostled the angry wound on his stomach, and cringed as he fell a little more blood seep through the bandages. He was going to have to be more careful or he would probably end up bleeding to death. Ugh. The great FullMetal Alchemist dying of blood loss because he was too clumsy to stay standing. Even if he didn't die, Mustang would never let him hear the end of it. That cynical bastard. Ed almost smirked slightly at the thought of his sarcastic, egotistical comrade. Almost. He wasn't quite at the smiling stage yet, even if it was to poke fun at Mustang. He slowly dragged himself to his feet and steadied himself using the bed as a support. Shaking his lose hair off his face, Ed limped through to the door. His automail leg was playing up a bit, perhaps because it needed maintenance. He had also grown slightly since Winry had fitted it, meaning he was off balance. He hadn't told her _that_ either. It was only a minor inconvenience, though. Nothing to worry about.

The kitchen was quiet, save the sound of the dripping tap. Ed ambled over to the sink and began to pour himself a glass of water. The strange feeling gnawed at him the whole time, nagging him. A dash of fear and something just a bit more. Ed sighed for what seemed the hundredth time since he had awoken. He leaned back against the table, idly tracing the patterns in the wood grain with his index finger. Al would be annoyed if he found out that Ed had been keeping his feelings from him, but how could he explain it to him when he could even explain it to himself? Abruptly, Al's face flashed into his mind. Ed froze. Images of Al were playing behind his eyes. Al as a child, smiling. Al worried as they sat before the transmutation circle that would resurrect their mother. As the images played, the gnawing, churning feeling grew stronger. Al screaming for him as the gate tore him from their world. The feeling grew stronger still. Al trapped inside the suit of armour, a soul without a body. The feeling was so strong that it ached in his heart.

And suddenly, Ed knew. He knew what that feeling was. The glass slipped from his hand, smashing on the floor. The sound was almost deafening in the heavy silence of the night, but he didn't hear it. He was locked in his realization.

He had felt that feeling so often. Almost every time he had looked at his disembodied little brother. He knew it so well. Why hadn't he realised sooner?

It was Guilt.

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**Waahh, Realization sucks. Poor Ed. I tried to make this chapter a bit longer, but I'm not sure how it'll turn out on FanFic. I hadn't realised they were so short, Sorry! ^_^; Speaking of which, FanFic keeps screwing up my formatting. Grr… It's so annoying. I'll have to check this one when I upload it. I re-read the first few chapters, and realised how crappy the formatting had come out, so I might upload them again, if I can find a format that it'll accept. I hope this chapter wasn't too bad, I'll try to upload more regularly, I promise! :D **

Please don't hesitate to review if you read this Fic! And thank you all for the reviews that are already submitted!

**Ciaossu! XD**


	7. Chapter 7

Um, I guess that this is kind of a double post, 'cos I uploaded the chapter about an hour after the previous one, so please read chapter 6 before you read this update! :D Sorry if Ed seemed really OC in the last chapter. It's kinda hard to put his usual character in there, 'cos he's so depressed at the moment. Poor Ed. I'm so mean to him. XD I hope it's not becoming boring! I'll try to progress the story a bit, but ideas have been coming reaaaaaaally slowly to me. Wah, I guess you could say I have mild Writers Block… Hmm, also, I might put the rating up, just to be on the safe side. It might get quite dark later on… Anyways, enjoy folks; I'll do my best! OSSU! ^_^

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At the first crash, Winry's eyes snapped open. She lay frozen for a few seconds before cautiously sliding out of bed. It sounded like the noise had come from the kitchen. Suddenly, there was another crash, this one louder and more clattering than the last. Yep, definitely the kitchen. She had become a much lighter sleeper since Ed had disappeared. Perhaps it was because she had always been waiting for him to come back to her, listening even in her sleep for his return. Winry pushed open her bedroom door and poked her head into the hallway. There were no sounds coming from the kitchen anymore. She frowned. Maybe Al had gotten up for a midnight snack and knocked something over? Al was getting more like his brother when it came to food. Smiling fondly, Winry made her way to the kitchen. As she pushed open the door, however, the smile slipped from her face. A familiar bandage-clad back was facing her. He was standing rigidly, facing towards the window, as if he'd frozen in place. His one good arm was gripping the side fiercely, and his head was hanging low.

"E- Ed?" Winry questioned, numbly. He span round, his face contorted with pain. Winry automatically took a step back. He blinked, and his face softened, though the pain remained quietly reflected in his eyes.

"Sorry Win, did I wake you up?" His eyes lowered to the floor, answering his own question as they fell on the smashed glass. Scattered around the shards of glass were an assortment of automail parts that had previously been sitting on the counter beside the sink. It looked like Ed had swept them onto the floor, most likely in anger. Winry cleared her throat.

"Um, I heard a crash and…" She trailed off. Ed looked apologetic.

"Yeah, sorry. I dropped my glass. I was just getting some water." He murmured, shifting his weight to his automail leg. Tactfully, Winry said nothing about the automail parts scattered at their feet. Instead she frowned disapprovingly at him.

"Ed," she began reproachfully. "you shouldn't be out of bed. I'm sure Granny left you some water on the bedside table. Didn't Al tell you not to get out of bed?" He grinned sheepishly at her, catching her of guard. Winry blushed. _Lucky it's dark…_She thought, cringing internally.

"Uh, yeah, he told me. I just wanted to stretch my legs a bit. Well, my leg, technically." A smile was still playing faintly around his lips. Winry was glad. At least he was smiling again, even if it was only a ghost of his old smile. He bent down to gather up the broken glass, but stopped halfway, wincing. His hand flew automatically to his stomach, as a tiny hiss of pain escaped his lips. Winry dropped to his side.

"Ed? Ed, what's wrong?" she asked, her question laced with worry. He grimaced, but didn't make another sound as he gathered up the glass and piled it on the side. When he was finished, he leant back against the table, a light sheen of sweat on his face. It had only been a tiny task. Certainly not enough to make someone tired. He was definitely in pain.

"Ed, you're in pain. What's wrong? Is it your wound?" Winry asked again, worriedly. Ed waved a hand at her.

"Don't worry, it's nothing. Just a little twinge." Winry scowled at him.

"Edward Elric, if you think you can still lie to me after all these years, without me figuring it out, then you are _very_ mistaken." She huffed. To her surprise, Ed chuckled.

"No, I guess you're right. You know, you sound uncannily like Granny when you do that." He smiled tiredly. Winry softened a little.

"Ed, let me look at it. You probably need your bandages changing anyway." He shook his head.

"Really, Winry, it's nothing. It's just sore. If you're really determined, you can look at it in the morning. We should probably go back to bed, I bet you're just as tired as I am." Ed insisted. Winry frowned at him again. She'd noticed there was something off with Ed throughout the whole conversation. He just wasn't acting like 'Edward'.

"Fine," she sighed. "but I'm taking a look at it first thing in the morning." Ed smiled.

"Yes nurse." He smirked slightly. Winry blushed brilliantly, silently praising the darkness.

"Oh, shut up." She smiled poking him towards the hallway. She was impressed with how normal she kept her voice sounding. They stopped out side Ed's room. He shuffled awkwardly.

"Listen, Win. I'm sorry, you know, for always making you worry." He said seriously. Winry smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Come on Ed, you know I'd be worrying about you even if I didn't have a reason. You and Al used to get yourselves into trouble every other day." Ed sighed.

"Yeah, but it doesn't make me feel any better." He said unhappily. "I'll try and keep out of trouble for you." Winry frowned. This wasn't like Ed at all. He rarely apologised for things. In fact she'd probably heard him apologise more times in the past day than she had her whole life. Also, Ed never usually liked to voice his feelings to her so readily. She reached up and put a hand on his forehead.

"Are you feeling okay, Ed. You do feel a little warm… What's brought all this on?" she asked warily. His cheeks flushed slightly.

"Nothing," he said hastily. "I'm just…" he shook his head. "It's nothing. Thanks, Winry, for always looking out for me." He gave her a small smile and disappeared into his room, leaving her standing bewildered by the doorway.

"What was all that about?" she muttered to herself. Winry shook her head before making her way back to her room.

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As soon as Ed was behind his door, he let out another hiss of pain. The gash on his stomach was really starting to sear. He knew he was being stupid, not telling Winry how much pain he was in, but he just couldn't face making her worry about him again. It had been hard enough trying to act as normal as possible when his realization was crushing down on him. Throughout the whole conversation, his mind had been screaming at him. Trying to force him to think about what he had just understood. Once he had recognised what the feeling was, it had become crippling. The guilt and fear had begun to tear at him in every direction, trying to bring him to his knees. If Winry hadn't walked in when she had, he couldn't guarantee what he might have done. Even worse than the crushing feeling was the fact that he still couldn't remember its cause. His memories were still just as elusive and slippery as before. His guilt was unfounded. Feeling slightly light-headed, Ed looked down at his stomach.

"Oh great," he groaned. More blood had seeped through the bandages, leaving a dark, tennis ball sized stain on the surface. If the wound had been healing up before, it definitely wasn't now. There was undeniably a problem here. Sighing, Ed limped over to the bedside table to grab the roll of bandages sitting on it. He was surprised that he had managed to conceal the fact that his leg was in less than good health. Winry normally noticed all things when it came to her automail. Oh well. At least she wouldn't have to worry about that too.

Carefully, Ed began to wrap a few more rolls of bandaging over the surface of the old ones. Hopefully, the wound would stop bleeding in the night, and this would just cover it up. Once he had finished, he painfully climbed back into bed. He didn't bother throwing the covers over himself. He was too hot anyway. Without anything to distract him, the guilt and fear returned, battling in his mind and wrapping themselves around his heart. He almost wanted to curl up into a ball and just give up. But he refused to let himself be anymore broken than he already was. He could not leave Al behind again. If he retreated into is mind, if he let the darkness swallow him, then Al would suffer even more than he would. Winry too. Winry needed him to stay strong. To continue to be the same old Ed. He would try harder.

He closed his eyes, willing sleep to come so he could escape, just for a little while. The wound on his stomach continued to sear, and the empty automail port on his shoulder ached. It had been aching since he had first awoken, but as his body had gotten tired, the dull ache had grown more intense. Sleep still would not come.

Despite the pain he was feeling, both physical and mental, Ed's eyes were still dry. It seemed that he could still not cry, even after all these years. Perhaps he was merely not capable of the action anymore. Slowly the seconds ticked by. It must be getting close to dawn soon, thought the sky was still dark. Gradually, sleep crept towards him. He no longer cared if he had nightmares. He wouldn't remember them anyway.

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**Ahhrg! I'm sorry! Ed is so OC in this chapter! I didn't mean for him to be, but it just kinda happened. ^^; In fact so is Winry. T_T I'm sorry! I hope this chapter was okay, I don't really like it much, but I'll try to make the next one better! Thanks for reading, and please don't forget to review! Cookies for all that do, and a double helping of angst in the next chapter! XD**

**Ciaossu! ^^**


	8. Chapter 8

**Wow, somehow this chapter came out all angsty and tragic… Ehehe, I hope it's not too much! ^^' **

**Okay, a couple of warnings: There is some mild swearing, but nothing too bad. It's mostly Roy actually. He has such a potty mouth XD Also there is a lot of blood (maybe you could say gore?) but I don't really feel the need to up the rating. However, if anyone is uncomfortable or offended, please tell me and I'll put the rating up :D Wah, It seems everyone comes out kinda OOC (Thanks to '****blood-stained-rag-doll' for the correction :D Ehehe, sorry I'm such a noob when it comes to abbreviations. If you hadn't told me I would have been writing OC forever XD) in this chapter. Sorry about that! ^^; Anyways, sorry for rambling, enjoy the chapter!**

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As soon as he had woken up, Ed knew that something was wrong. He felt too hot, and his chest felt sticky. He blinked a few times, clearing his eyes. Thin morning light was timidly poking through the gaps in the curtains, and his bedcovers had been kicked off in the night. Warily, Ed raised his head off the pillows to get a better look at his torso. One glace was all he needed to know it was bad. Moaning quietly, he let his head flop back onto the pillows. The large, deep wound on his stomach evidently did not want to heal. Blood had seeped through the bandages during the few hours of sleep Ed had snatched. A _lot _of blood. Instead of the small patch that had been there last night, Ed was faced with a stain of wet, sticky blood that had managed to cover most of his stomach and lower torso, and that was now spreading to cover his chest. The pain was no picnic either. It had intensified further, if that was even possible. He would have to get up and change the bandages himself. If Winry or Al saw him like this they would freak out. It was a good thing no one had decided to check on him yet, especially as he had kicked the covers onto the floor. The bloody bandages were hard to miss.

_Oh crap, _Ed groaned inwardly as he remembered the conversation he'd had with Winry last night. She'd probably be in soon to check the wound anyway.

_Right,_ Ed thought. _I'll just have to get up and change the bandages myself. _

Ed bit his lip, and then attempted to pull himself into a sitting position. Bad idea. The resulting pain of tensing his stomach muscles was so intense that he nearly bit through his lip. At least it kept him from crying out. Once he had managed to swing his legs over the edge of the bed, he braced himself before attempting to stand. Again, the pain was so bad that his legs crumpled beneath him. Panting heavily, Ed lay on his back, the wooden floor cold beneath him. He was getting nowhere. If he didn't get up soon, Winry would come in and find him like this. _And lets face it,_ Ed thought _it'll look worse than it is if I'm lying on my back on the floor_. Gathering his determination, Ed tensed himself to try and stand again. The angry wound momentarily blinded him with pain, causing him to throw his head back against the hard floor, almost knocking himself out. Oh God. It hurt so much. The wound was most defiantly infected. It was the only explanation for the worsening agony - and the fever too. After the surge of pain had passed, Ed tried again. This time he managed to struggle slowly to his feet. Once he was standing, he could un-tense his stomach muscles and the pain lessened slightly. Only slightly.

_Oh, fantastic. _Ed thought sarcastically as his vision began to blur, most probably from the combined effects of the fever and blood loss. This was ridiculous, and Ed knew it. He was being idiotically stubborn, but he could handle this by himself. Maybe the blood loss was making him a bit irrational.

He knew he must look terrible, probably worse than he felt. He swayed slightly as he turned the bedside table for more bandages. His jaw dropped in disbelief. How could he have forgotten?! He'd used up the bandages in here last night, to try and cover up the bloodstains. Oh God, he was going to have to go to the kitchen for more bandages. This was a joke. It had to be a joke! Could he not catch a single break? He could only imagine the faces of his friends when he staggered down the hallway looking like this… Mustang's face would be a picture. A wave of hysteria washed over him, almost making him burst into laughter. The thought of Winry's face instantly sobered him though. He had to sort this out before someone walked in. He would just end up making everyone worry more, otherwise. He didn't have time to act crazy, fever or not.

Realizing that he really couldn't walk out looking like this, he dragged himself unsteadily across the room to retrieve a loose black shirt to cover the bandages. Doing his best to ignore the sharp bursts of pain, Ed pulled the shirt over his head before gabbing a hair tie. With great difficulty, he managed to one-handedly pull his hair into a messy, loose ponytail before glancing into the mirror on the opposite wall. He still looked like hell, but it would have to do. His eyes were stained from lack of sleep, the shadows under his eyes looking like bruises, and he was extremely pale. A light sheen of sweat covered his face. He wiped a hand over his face before slowly limping over to the door. Maybe nobody would be up yet. That would be great. As he stumbled through the doorway into the hall, his vision blurred again. The small act of walking across the room already had him panting. His heart sank as he heard voices from the kitchen. It sounded like everyone was up. Perhaps it wasn't as early as he thought. Oh well, he'd come this far. Shaking his head to try and clear his vision, Ed lurched down the hallway towards the kitchen. He could hear Mustang and Hughes having a quiet conversation, and Winry and Al were discussing something near them. All the conversations ceased, however, as Ed pushed open the door. Everybody turned to look as he limped as normally as he could through the door. Al's face lit up.

"Brother, you're up!" he exclaimed happily. The almost forgotten feeling of guilt bubbled up as he realized he was keeping his pain from Al again. But it was for the best. Ed did his best to smile at Al, though it came out as more of a grimace. Roy looked at him suspiciously.

"Wow FullMetal, you look terrible," he quipped raising an eyebrow. Ed snorted.

"Thanks," he said sarcastically. Roy and Hughes looked relieved to see a little more character in Ed. He had seemed so empty yesterday.

"Hey, I'm just telling it like it is," Roy smirked, the relief reflected in his teasing words. Ed felt the guilt surge upwards again. He was, in effect, tricking them all. He must look a thousand times better than he felt, or they would have all started panicking by now.

"Shut up, General God-Complex," Ed muttered as he staggered towards the medicine cabinet. Hughes chuckled to himself at that comment, and Roy rolled his eyes. Ed's fever muddled brain slowly realized that he shouldn't look so eager to get to the medicine cabinet. It was suspicious. He slowed, grabbing onto the kitchen counter for support.

"How are you feeling, Brother?" Al asked anxiously. Ed cursed internally, and turned to answer his brother, momentarily abandoning his epic quest for bandages.

"I'm fine Al, just a little tired still," he reassured him. _Shit,_ he cursed in his mind. He'd slurred his answer slightly. Maybe no one would notice.

"Ed? Are you sure you're okay?" Winry asked, cautiously. Ed winced. He had to get to those bandages now, before he messed up again. He nodded, as he twisted around, still gripping the counter.

"Gotta get 'em now…" he muttered to himself. They all exchanged worried glances behind his back. As he began to stagger towards the cabinet, the pain smashed into him again, catching him off guard. He froze, trying not to voice the agony he felt. This was a bad idea. He should have just stayed in his room. He swayed on the spot as his vision blurred yet again, and he could feel more blood oozing from his wound. He wasn't going to make it to the cabinet. The sound of scraping chairs behind him brought him to his senses. He turned around, clinging to the counter with his one arm. It was the only thing keeping him upright. Roy and Hughes were on their feet, and everyone looked shocked. It was almost comical. He couldn't help himself. Ed laughed between the pants of his laboured breaths.

"Edward, stay still. Are you in pain?" Hughes took a step forward. He tried to answer, but he was having trouble keeping his eyes open, and the pain was so crippling that he didn't trust himself anyway.

The strength drained from him.

He was vaguely aware of Mustang moving swiftly towards him as his legs gave way beneath him and darkness clouded his vision completely.

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He knew that there was something wrong, then. Roy leapt to his feet as Ed swayed dangerously on the spot. His jaw was clenched tightly in unmistakable pain as the blood drained from his face. Then he started laughing, almost hysterically, as he struggled to breath.

"Shit," Roy muttered as Ed began to topple forwards. He reached him just in time, and managed to stop him from falling completely to the floor.

"Ed!" Winry screamed at the same time as Al's cry of:

"Brother!" Roy gently lowered the limp teenager to the floor. He was panting heavily, his face deathly white.

"What's wrong with him?!" Al cried, struggling to get to Ed's side.

"Oh," Winry gasped as she knelt by his side. "Oh no!" She grabbed the hem of his shirt, pulling it up to his armpits. His bandages were completely soaked in blood, all the way up to his chest. Al and Hughes gasped and Winry let out a choked sob.

"Damn it Edward!" Mustang yelled as he worked to cut the bandages from his torso. He cut the black shirt off the boy too, to get it out of the way. The wound beneath them was a mess. The edges were ragged and it had clearly re-opened. Blood was steadily pulsing from it, and it was beginning to look infected. As they peeled the bandages away, Ed jerked and clenched his teeth, his eyes screwing shut tighter. A cry of pain forced it's way through his teeth as he bucked on the floor, trying to bend away from Roy's hands.

"Oh Brother!" Al sobbed behind them. Roy looked around. Hughes was holding him by the shoulders, trying to stop the distressed boy from getting in the way. He turned back to Winry, who was pulling the last of the soaked bandages from Ed's body.

"Where is your Grandmother?" he asked her urgently.

"S-She went to buy some more groceries," Winry stammered, looking almost as pale as Ed. Roy turned back to Hughes.

"Maes, get Al out of here. You two go and find Pinako, tell her what's happened. We'll deal with Ed." He said. Hughes nodded and ushered Al out the door. Roy turned his attention back to Ed. He was obviously in an immense amount of pain.

"Damn!" he cursed again, "How did he get this bad without us noticing?" he growled. Winry sobbed again.

"He's so stubborn! He's always trying to handle his problems on his own, no matter how serious they are! He never lets on when he's in pain either." She cried in frustration. Roy balled up the remains of Ed's shirt, ready to try and staunch the bleeding with it. This was going to hurt him.

"Sorry Edward," he whispered before firmly pressing the fabric onto the wound.

It was like Roy had electrocuted him. He writhed under the pressure on his stomach, another muted cry of agony forcing itself through his clenched teeth. Winry was muttering to herself.

"I knew it! I knew I should have checked it last night!" Roy snapped his head upwards.

"Do you have anything to help with the infection? Antibiotics?" he asked franticly. She nodded.

"In the back, with the surgery supplies." She replied. Roy nodded.

"Good, can you get it for me? And some fresh bandages, some gauze, morphine and surgical alcohol?" Winry nodded again and determinedly raced off to the back room. The girl was good in a crisis, he noted. Roy kept the pressure on Ed's wound constant, despite his feeble attempts to brush Roy off. His normally smooth eighteen-year-old face was twisted in pain. Worry creased Roy's brow. Ed had lost so much blood… Winry's return with the supplies cut his morbid thoughts short. She dropped to her knees handing him the items he had asked for.

"We don't keep any morphine here as we can't use it for automail surgery. The nerves can't be numb when we do it, so we can't use it." She explained anxiously. Roy winced.

"That's okay. We'll just have to treat him without it." He said. Winry nodded hesitantly.

"Um, Mr. Mustang, are you sure you know what you're doing?" she asked worriedly as she studied Ed's face. He grimaced.

"You're forgetting I'm part of the military. I see wounds like this all the time as a soldier. We all have to have basic training in how to treat them." Winry nodded, looking reassured. Suddenly there was a rasping sound from Ed.

"W-Win?" he coughed painfully.

"Ed!" she cried in relief. His eyelids cracked open revealing the dull gold beneath. His eyes were unfocussed and he was struggling to keep them open.

"I-I'm sorry, Win…" he panted, "I made you worry again," Tears began to pour down Winry's cheeks.

"Edward, you're such a stubborn idiot!" she cried angrily, "Don't you know it makes me worry more when you don't tell me what you're feeling?" He blinked twice, trying to focus on her face.

"Sorry Winry I--" he stopped abruptly, cringing in pain.

"Ed?" she whispered, His eyelids flickered.

"I'm- I'm okay Win, but the room keeps spinning… I feel strange…" he mumbled, closing his eyes. Winry bit her lip, crying silently. Roy decided to cut in here. He had to get this wound fixed up, _now_.

"FullMetal." Roy said clearly. Ed frowned trying to focus on Roy. He tried again.

"Edward," he began. Ed blinked again, still frowning. "Edward can you hear me?" Ed's frown deepened. He opened his mouth.

"Unfortunately." Roy rolled his eyes, almost smiling Typical. Even in a life-threatening situation, Ed had to be the smart-ass. The situation rapidly became serious again, though, as Ed's eyelids started to drift shut once more.

"Edward," Roy said sharply, "Edward, look at me." Ed's eyes flickered open again.

"I'm going to have to put some antibiotics in the wound, but it's probably going to hurt," he began to explain. Ed coughed, and blood spotted his lips. _Shit,_ Roy thought _just how deep __**is**__ this wound?! _

"Probably?" he joked weakly. Roy grimaced.

"Okay, I won't lie to you. It's going to hurt a lot." Ed grinned lopsidedly. It was strange how carefree he felt.

"Go ahead," he murmured, "I'm sure I've had worse…" Winry sniffed, probably remembering the night, all those years ago, when Al had appeared on her doorstep with Ed, missing two limbs.

"Ed, you're an idiot," she muttered softly.

"Charming," he croaked, grinning again. Winry quietly slipped her hand into Ed's. Roy got the antibiotics and the alcohol ready.

"Do you have to put them both in?" Winry asked. "It's going to hurt him enough as it is."

"I have to be sure that the infection won't spread, or return for that matter. The alcohol is only going around the edges of the wound though, to help sterilize it." Winry nodded. Ed's breathing was becoming more laboured, and the blood was still seeping into the remains of his rolled up shirt. It was now or never. Roy opened the antibiotic gel and gently removed the shirt. Roy winced when he saw the wound again. The sides were gaping, and the skin around it was an unhealthy yellowed colour, visible through smears in the blood.

"Edward?" Roy asked gently. His eyes were dull, but rolled around to look at him none the less.

"I'm going to put it in the wound now," he informed him. Ed just nodded tiredly, a small inclination of his head. Winry squeezed his hand. Roy breathed in swiftly and poured the antibiotic liquid into his hand. He looked up at Winry.

"Can you hold him down?" he asked. She bit her lip, going pale, but nodded all the same. She moved around and placed her hands on his shoulders, firmly pinning him to the floor. Roy began to apply the antibiotics.

As soon as he touched the wound, Ed's whole body tensed. As Roy started to pour it _into_ the wound, he convulsed, his head slamming backwards against the stone tiled floor. Winry trembled, but continued to hold his shoulders firmly while Roy covered the wound. Roy knew that he was going to have to put his fingers into the gash in order to make sure the wound was fully covered. He tried to do it as quickly as possible, but it was hard. Even though Winry was holding him down, Ed was still bucking violently. Ed's teeth were clenched so tightly, Roy thought they might crack. He threw his head backwards again, smashing it into the floor as he arched his back. All the time he was fighting to keep silent. However, despite his efforts, a muffled yet agonized cry of pain escaped his lips. Roy was amazed. By all rights the boy should be screaming by now. He had treated wounds like this before, and even the toughest men had screamed in agony. Yet here was Ed barley even crying out.

After what seemed like hours, Roy had finished with the antibiotics. In reality, only about five minutes had passed, but it had felt so much longer. Roy could only imagine how long it must have felt to Ed. After Roy pulled away, Ed had continued to jerk and twitch for a few minutes, his teeth still clenched, but he eventually became still. Winry cautiously released his shoulders. His breathing was harsh and irregular, but he seemed to still be conscious. Just. Winry sighed and sat back on her folded legs.

"Ed, can you hear me? Ed?" she asked softly. He opened his eyes slowly. They were dull and glassy from the pain. She laid a cool hand on his forehead, and almost flinched away.

"He's really burning up," Winry stated worriedly.

"We need to stop the bleeding now, before we can bandage it." Roy murmured. Winry nodded and started to pack gauze into the wound. The blood soaked into it quickly, drenching it in moments. Winry started to panic.

"It's not stopping," she said in a low voice. Both Roy and Ed remained silent. "There must be something else we can do to stop the bleeding!" she said desperately. Roy hesitated.

"Mr. Mustang, if you know a way you can stop this, you have to tell me." She said, determination blazing in her eyes. She reminded him of Riza. He closed his eyes briefly breathing in.

"I know a way," he said finally, "but I in no way recommend it. It's too dangerous." Winry stared him straight in the eyes.

"Tell me."

"I could cauterise it with my flame alchemy." The words fell heavily around them.

"You mean burn it to seal it shut?" Winry asked. Roy nodded.

"But it's too dangerous. It's hard to control it on such a small scale; I could end up seriously hurting him. Plus there is no guarantee that it will work." Roy finished. Winry bit her lip.

"I can't lose him, Mr. Mustang." She said, choosing her words carefully. "Do you think it will work?" Roy sighed.

"There's a good possibility," he admitted "but it's still to dangerous." Suddenly Ed stirred.

"Do it." He rasped.

"Edward, you're not thinking straight. You can't make a decision like that in this condition." Roy protested. Ed coughed.

"I just did," he panted. "It's okay, it probably won't hurt as much as what you just did." He said wearily. Roy frowned. Ed had already lost so much blood; maybe this was his last chance… Ed's weak voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Please, Roy." The use of his name caught him off guard. Edward had called him Roy. Not Mustang or Bastard. His golden eyes stared up at him, silently begging. "I can't leave Al. We're all we've got. Not like this." Ed was having trouble focusing again. Roy rubbed his forehead in frustration.

"Fine," he snapped "but on your own head be it, FullMetal." He fished his gloves out of his back pocket and pulled them on.

"Hold him down please, Miss Rockbell." Winry hurriedly obeyed.

"Are you ready for this?" he asked Ed.

"As I'll ever be," he replied, bracing himself wearily. _Right,_ Roy thought. _Three, Two, one…_ He snapped his fingers.

The brilliant flame leapt to Ed's stomach instantly. His eyes flew wide open and his mouth gaped in a silent scream. Of course, he made no real sound. Just like before, Ed's back arched violently as he experienced the pain of being burned alive. And then it was over. The smell of seared flesh assaulted their noses and smoke hovered around them. Ed slumped lifelessly back to the floor, his head resting in Winry's lap. He didn't move. Winry forced herself to look at Ed's stomach. Surprisingly, it wasn't that bad. The flesh that the fire had touched looked extremely raw and blistered, but the wound was effectively closed over. She could still see where it was though. It wasn't healed, but the bleeding had been stopped. She glanced up at Roy. He was staring at Ed's stomach with a look of shock and relief, as if he too had expected something much worse. Winry looked down at Ed's face. He was frighteningly still and pale. His chest wasn't moving. Panicked, Winry put her ear to his face. He wasn't breathing.

"Roy he's not breathing!" she said frantically, throwing aside all formalities. Roy seemed to be in a trance though, still staring at Ed's stomach. Winry pulled herself together. There was no time. She would have to do it.

She gently tilted his head back and pinched his nose before firmly covering his mouth with her own. She exhaled, forcing air into his lungs, before moving her hands to his chest. Firmly, she began pressing rhythmically as she counted. Winry often had to do CPR during and after automail surgery. Patients would sometimes stop breathing to shock or oxygen starvation. She forced herself to think this as no different. She would bring him back, and he would be fine. She heard Roy stir next to her.

"He has a pulse," he said quietly. Winry glanced up. Roy had Ed's wrist in his hand, two fingers pressed into it.

"How strong is it?" she asked. Roy grimaced.

"Not very, but it's regular, at least." Winry nodded and continued to pump Ed's chest. Suddenly, his eyes flew open and he sucked in a long, rasping breath. Winry slumped back, almost crying with relief. Roy looked at her with quiet admiration. She really was good in a crisis. Ed closed his eyes again, drawing in air rapidly.

"Jeez Win, go easy on the chest…" he croaked in-between breaths. Winry sobbed.

"Ed you idiot, don't scare me like that!" she thumped him lightly on the shoulder. He smiled weakly as his breaths grew more even, and his face smoothed over.

"Ed?" Winry asked fearfully.

"Don't worry, he's just passed out." Roy reassured her. Taking advantage of Ed's unconscious state, Roy smeared more antibiotics across the burns on Ed's stomach before reaching for the bandages. Together, he and Winry managed to bandage the wound, and his ribs too. It was likely that one or two could be broken from the CPR, and they were definitely at least bruised. Winry gently put his head back in her lap, lifting it off the hard floor. She stroked the hair from his face, and felt his forehead. His skin was scorching to the touch.

"We've got to get his fever down," she murmured. The door clattering open cut off Roy's reply. Al burst into the room closely followed by Pinako and Hughes. They took in the copious amounts of blood on the floor and all over Winry and Roy, Ed's pale face and Winry's tearstained one and immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion.

"No," Hughes whispered, paling. Al blanched.

Realizing how it looked, Roy raised his hands.

"He's okay! He's just unconscious!" he insisted. They all breathed out in relief. Hughes stepped forwards, looking down at Ed.

"Good grief, Edward, you really do know how to make a scene." He sighed. Al dropped to his brother's side.

"Brother!" he said tearfully. "Winry, is he really okay?" She nodded.

"At the moment," she said "but he has a high fever." Al nodded staring at his brother's bandaged body. Roy stood and walked over to Pinako.

"Do you have anything for his fever? We need to get it down soon, it's too high." She nodded.

"I have a Saline drip to re-hydrate him in the back, and an IV to sustain him. We'll have to bring his fever down the old fashioned way; with cold water and a cool compress." She left to fetch the items. Roy turned to Hughes.

"Can you help me carry him to his room?" he asked. Hughes nodded obligingly. They hefted Ed's flesh arm over Roy's shoulder, and Hughes did his best to lift Ed by his other, armless side. He was limp as they carried him down the hallway. Hughes grunted in surprise.

"The kid's heavy," he said.

"It's all the metal he has to carry." Winry explained as she followed them down the hall. Hughes nodded grimly. Edward had a hard burden to carry. If he felt heavy to two fully-grown men, that how must if feel to him, having to carry that around all day? And he hadn't even got all of it on at the moment; he was still an arm down! Roy and Hughes were hauling Ed's limp body up onto his bed when Pinako came through the door wheeling two IV stands and holding a bowl of water with a small towel over the edge. Winry took the bowl from her and wrung out the cold cloth before placing it on Ed's forehead. Pinako wheeled the saline drip and IV over to the left side of Ed's bed in order to insert the needles into his arm. Al winced as she did so, causing Roy to look at him questioningly.

"Brother hates needles," Al explained quietly, blushing. Ed stirred slightly as the drips began to seep into his bloodstream. Pinako stepped back.

"All we can do now, is wait." She said grimly. Everyone's eyes turned to Ed's sleeping form. Winry nodded. Waiting. She could do that. She was used to it, after all.

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**There was quite a lot of Roy in this chapter! Maybe too much Roy… XD **

**But I didn't want to leave it all up to poor Winry to save Ed, so I threw him into the mix as the "responsible" adult. XD Speaking of which, I'm not sure why I decided to throw Ed into a 'life-and-death' situation, it just sort of happened. Hmm, I hope it wasn't too much! Oh, and I'm not actually sure if you can burn wounds shut, or if that sterile alcohol stuff is supposed to be used, or even if antibiotics can be used like that, so please don't take any of what I write as fact. Hehe. ^_^' **

Thank you for all your reviews folks! It's such a rush to know people like my story! :D Please continue to review, and I'll try to be nicer to poor Ed XD Suggestions, Crits and general comments all equal love, but no flames please!

**(The next chapter might be late. It could take a couple of weeks, but I'll try really hard to get it up before then! Thanks for your patience guys! :D)**


	9. Chapter 9

Next Chapter! Yaay! Sorry it's taken so long! _

**I hope you enjoy!**

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He felt like crap. There was a dull ache working its way to the front of his head, and he felt like he had swallowed dust. Ed shifted slightly, keeping his eyes firmly shut. As he moved – as small as the movement was – his ribs throbbed and a twinge of pain flashed across his stomach. Yep, he definitely felt like crap. He lay still for a moment, listening. The room was quiet, except for his own shallow breathing. As his ears began to feel less fuzzy, he could hear the low murmur of voices floating down the hallway. His mind was moving sluggishly. Why did he feel so rough? Slowly, he began re-piecing his last memories. He remembered being in the kitchen, but not much else. His eyelids felt sore and heavy. Ed sighed, and instantly regretted the action. The deep breath sent a spasm of pain across his chest. Wincing, Ed forced open one eye. He was back in the Rockbell's guest room, apparently alone. Blinking blearily, he brought the world back into focus. The voices down the hallway were still buzzing. Frowning, Ed twisted his head to look at the window. Soft early morning light was seeping through the curtains, casting a pinkish glow around the room. He didn't remember going to bed, yet it was clearly morning. Suddenly, a flash of memory came to him. Pain. Blood. Then darkness and… Mustang?

Oh God. Winry was going to kill him. He had probably scared the hell out of her. Scratch that. He had _definitely_ scared the hell out of her. Ed lifted his arm to run his hand through his hair, but a sharp, tugging pain stopped him. Confused, he looked down at his arm. There was a needle in his arm. Two needles. Ed swallowed. He hated needles. Feeling vaguely sick, he averted his eyes from his arm, choosing to follow the tubing from the needles up to the IVs. Why were there IVs in his arm? Baffled, Ed (determinedly ignoring the presence of needles) shifted his weight, trying to pull himself into a sitting position. Grimacing as pain shot across his torso, Ed manoeuvred his legs over the side of the bed. He felt woozy and disorientated as he moved, and the IV needles tugged at his arm. Ed flinched and swallowed away his nausea before he gritted his teeth and tentatively attempted to pull the needles from his arm. As he currently only _had_ one arm, it was extremely difficult. In the end, he had to use his teeth to slide them out of his flesh, which wasn't exactly pleasant.

Hoping his legs wouldn't give out on him, Ed slid his feet to the floor. So far so good. He was a little wobbly, and he felt off balance with only one arm, but at least he could stand. His torso - which a quick glance down told him was still covered in bandages – was aching uncomfortably. His ribs were dully painful and panged with every movement, while the wound on his stomach felt raw and seared slightly. However, it was nowhere near as bad as the pain he had experienced the last time he had woken up, so he proceeded to stumble to the door. It was slightly ajar, and as he approached, the voices in the hallway grew louder. Curious, Ed paused just inside the doorway to listen. It was Hughes and Mustang.

"… I don't know Maes." Mustang was saying. "He still hasn't woken up, and he didn't really seem all there before he nearly bled to death. Who's to say what state Edward will be in when he wakes up. If he wakes up." Hughes sighed.

"Roy, Ed _will_ wake up. Try having a little faith. Sure, the kid's been through a lot, but I'm sure he's suffered worse. He hasn't led the life of a normal eighteen-year-old." Hughes reminded him.

"But that's the thing. We don't really know if he has suffered worse. We still don't know what happened to him in the month he was missing, and it seems that he doesn't either. One thing I _do_ know is that it wasn't a walk in the park. You saw him when he first woke up, Maes. I haven't seen anyone look that broken in a long time, and since Edward's ability to express what he's feeling is about zero, it's probably much worse than it seems. A month is a long time, Maes." There was a short silence.

"You're such a pessimist." Hughes muttered. "Look, grabbing at dark, half-formed theories isn't going to help any of us, least of all Ed. At least save your decision making until he's woken up." Hughes said firmly. Roy muttered something under his breath, and their voices receded down the hallway, towards the kitchen. Ed stood motionless, frozen in place. How could he have forgotten the whole reason he was in this nightmare of a mess? As soon as he remembered his forgotten anguish, the old feeling of guilt and tumbling emotions settled heavily on his chest. Ed clutched at his head with his hand. He was so useless! He couldn't even remember why he felt this wretched way! Mustang was right. He _was_ broken, and until he remembered what had happened to him, he couldn't even begin to fix himself. He staggered backwards - his back finding the wall opposite the door - and sank to the floor, lost in his own circle of torment. Letting his head sink into his hand, Ed tried to recall the last thing he could clearly remember before the first time he had awoken to find himself back in Risembool. At first, there was just a murky swirling of thoughts. Ed pressed his eyes shut, trying to force the memories to surface. Central. He had been in Central. Somewhere, at the back of his mind, it was if a candle had been lit. The darkness behind his eyelids was illuminated, and the streets of Central swam into vision. Slowly, Ed let himself drift and the images grew clearer.

It had been raining that day, too.

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_Ed cursed as droplets of rain spotted the report in his hand. _Damn Mustang!_ He thought, slipping the papers inside his coat. _I swear he only ever wants my reports when it's raining. It's ironic. That bastard's useless in the rain. _Ed smirked, dipping into the shelter of a nearby building. He didn't really like the rain. It was usually cold, which made his automail ache. As he walked, a heavy roll of thunder growled over his head and the streets gradually began to clear of people. He wasn't far from Central Headquarters, there were only a few streets to go and he'd be there. The rain was starting to fall heavier and Ed could hear his boots splash in the growing puddles. Feeling paranoid, Ed twisted his head around to stare back along the empty streets. He was alone, but something wasn't right. He picked up the pace. All of a sudden, Ed was aware of a splashing sound. Boots on the wet street. But the footsteps weren't his own. Ed smiled. Whoever was tailing him obviously didn't know who they were dealing with. He surreptitiously pressed his hands together, letting the alchemic energy flow through his body. Under his sleeve, Ed let his automail casing reform into a long, sharp blade. As he rounded the corner, the footsteps picked up. Ed span, his sword ripping through the fabric of his coat. He let his arm stop inches from his stalker's throat. _

"_If you thought you were being stealthy, you were wrong." Ed snarled at the man. He was trembling, his eyes wide. He didn't look dangerous, but Ed knew from first hand experience that you didn't need to look dangerous to be dangerous. If murderers looked like murderers, the world would be a lot easier to live in._

"_Why were you following me?" Ed stared coldly at the man. He swallowed nervously._

"_You are the FullMetal Alchemist, are you not? The hero of the people?" Ed narrowed his eyes, but did not drop his arm._

"_Who wants to know?" The man shifted uncomfortably. _

"_They say that you returned you little brother to his body." The man said, as if he was oblivious to the situation he was in. _

"_If you think that I won't hurt you just because you're an idiot, then you're sorely mistaken. I don't take kindly to people prying about my brother, especially when they've been following me for ten minutes. I suggest that you start answering my questions." Ed frowned. Of course, he would never _really_ hurt the man, but his patience was wearing thin. He'd always had a short fuse anyway, and combining that with the rain and the current situation did not make Ed a happy man._

"_Why are you following me?" He repeated, "And what do you want with me?" The man nodded, as if answering a question that only he could hear. Ed raised an eyebrow. Maybe the guy was crazy? _

"_Right. I guess I can tell you." He raised his eyes to meet Ed's. "We need your help. But only you. It's not something someone else can do, I'm sure." He murmured. Ed shook his head. _

"_If you need something from me, there are better ways to ask." Ed said, un-amused. _

"_It's my daughter. Please, you have to help us." The man pleaded, searching Ed's face. Ed sighed. _

"_I'm not sure who you think I am, but I'm not a doctor," He began. The man shook his head._

"_No, she's trapped. I can't free her. I need alchemy to get her out." Ed lowered his blade slightly._

"_What?" He was confused. Just what did this guy want with him? His manner had completely changed from being a strange crazy-sounding guy to a concerned parent. Something didn't feel right._

"_I was taking my daughter to explore some caves, just north of Central. She'd been pestering me about it for weeks. I wasn't planning to go in too far, but she ran ahead when we got about 15 minutes in. I ran after her, but I was too late. She slipped and fell into a deeper part of the cave, almost like a hole, I guess." The man grabbed at the front of Ed's shirt causing him start backwards. "Please! You have to come and help! It wasn't too far a fall, but I think she hit her head. I could see her, she looked unconscious. I tried to get down to her, but there was no way without me falling down too!" _

_Ed clapped his hands and reformed his automail back into an arm. He grabbed the man's hands and pulled them off his shirt. The man wrung his hands, looking at him hopefully._

"_How long has she been down there?" Ed questioned, fixing the man with a piercing stare._

"_Not much more than an hour. After I tried to reach her, I ran here to get help." Ed sighed._

"_Why did you come to me? Why not the military? Or the police?" he asked, rubbing his forehead. He could feel a headache coming on._

"_I – I wasn't looking for you specifically," he stammered, averting his eyes. "I was, um, going to the State Alchemists, to see if they could help. You were the first Alchemist I saw, I recognised you from the descriptions. You're quite famous." Ed frowned. This all seemed very suspicious. He had half a mind to just take the man to Mustang and have him deal with it. He was going there anyway, and the Bastard deserved some extra work after making Ed come all the way to him in the rain._

_The man must have seen the reluctance on his face._

"_Please," he begged, "I need you! You're probably the most suited to the task anyway. I've heard stories about you. You're a prodigy, a genius!" Ed sighed again. The guy was obviously desperate. He started mumbling._

"_I can't leave her down there. She's my only daughter. My little Nina." Ed froze._

"_W – What?" Ed asked numbly. Nina? He shook his head. Nina wasn't that uncommon a name. He was being stupid. But still… _

"_Your daughter's name is Nina?" Ed asked, feeling stupid. "How old is she?" Ed could have sworn there was a smirk forming on the man's lips._

"_Ten, why?" Ed breathed in deeply. Ten. The age Nina Tucker would have been, if she had been given the chance to reach it. _(1)_ It had to be a coincidence. It was impossible for it to be anything else. Scar had murdered her. _

_So why couldn't he shake this feeling of dread? _

"Fine," Ed said, without really realising what he was doing. "Take me to her, I'll get her out of the cave." The man's face split into a smile.

"_I knew you would help! You really are the hero of the people!" Ed rolled his eyes._

"_Yeah, Yeah. Come on; let's get there quickly. I have a report to hand in."_

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"_This doesn't look like the sort of place You'd want to bring a kid," Ed intoned darkly. They were standing at the entrance to what looked like the cave from a horror movie, complete with dripping stalactites and a rotting smell that he couldn't quite place. The man shot a glance sideways at Ed. _

"_Yes, I know, but she really wanted to come. I – uh – I don't know why, really." Ed frowned, but said nothing else on the matter. _

"_Lead the way then," Ed muttered, stepping towards the entrance. _

"_Right. It's not far now." They travelled in silence for about ten minutes, Ed's senses all on hyper alert. He didn't like this place. The rotting smell was getting stronger and, worryingly, more familiar. The man had produced candles for them both before they had entered, but the light they provided was only barely substantial enough for them to see by, and they didn't look like they would last too long. He discreetly glanced at the man out of the corner of his eye. He had been suspiciously quiet for a while now, and he looked strangely calm despite his situation. _

_They must be nearly there now, Ed was sure the man had said that he and his daughter had only gotten 15 minutes in…Ed sighed and lowered his gaze to the floor. He frowned. In the half-light, Ed could just about see some chalky-looking footprints crisscrossing in both directions. That was odd._

"_Hey, do people come to this place often?" Ed questioned, breaking their prolonged silence. The man looked up at him, confused._

"_I don't think so, why?" It could have just been the light, but he looked oddly nervous and wary. Ed frowned again._

"_No reason," He shrugged, feigning indifference. The man watched him for a few moments, before turning back to face their path again. Something about this definitely wasn't right. _Oh well,_ Ed mused, _its not like he can take me, if that's what he planning. Besides, he could actually be telling the truth. I'm way too paranoid about things like this anyway… _Ed was startled from his thoughts when they came out of the narrow tunnel into what seemed to be a large chamber. He couldn't see the ceiling in the dim light, but he _could_ see the numerous tables piled with what appeared to be various substances and flasks of chemicals. But it wasn't this that made Ed narrow his eyes in anger. Drawn all over the floor and walls, as far as he could see, were transmutation circles. Not just any circles, though. These were unmistakably designed for human transmutation, or at least some other form of taboo. Ed hissed, sharply turning to the man beside him. _

"_What the hell is this? Some kind of lab for you to perform twisted experiments? What, are you luring people down here now to involve in your stupidity?" Ed snarled. The man was grinning sickly, apparently not worried that he had pissed off the famous FullMetal Alchemist. Ed growled. _

"_I can't say I'm surprised that you were lying, you're pretty crap at it, but this is just-" Ed was cut off by a scuffling sound coming from the middle of the chamber. He tore his eyes from the man's smirking face and focused on the source of the noise. A small girl of about ten years old was lying face down near one of the larger transmutation circles, her hands tied behind her back. Ed froze. He couldn't see her face, but her hair looked familiar. It was long and light brown, tied in two plaits either side of her head. Just like…_

"_N-Nina?" Ed breathed. No. It was impossible. The man was making his way towards her; the sick smile still in place on his face. Ed snapped out of his trance. _

"_You bastard!" He yelled, slapping his hands together. His automail slid smoothly into a blade once more, blue light crackling from the alchemic reaction. The man turned slowly, chuckling._

"_It's too late for that, Edward Elric." He snickered. His eyes were fixed on something behind Ed. Ed cursed internally. He should have known this guy wouldn't be down here alone with him. He started to whirl round to face what was behind him, but he really was too late. Pain exploded behind his eyes as something heavy and hard smashed into the back of his head. Ed's knees crumpled beneath him, and his vision tunnelled._

"_Shit…" He murmured as he crashed painfully to the floor. He could dimly hear the man laughing manically._

_He vaguely wondered when it was that he had gotten so careless before everything darkened and nothingness embraced him._

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Ed's eyes flew open as he jerked forwards, gasping for air. Shaking violently, he jolted his head upwards and darted his eyes across the room, panicked. He was still sitting with his back against the wall in the Rockbell guest room. Evidently not much time had passed since he'd sat down, or someone probably would have been in to check on him by now. Ed staggered painfully to his feet, hissing as he angered his already aching wounds. He felt like a mess. His head was throbbing painfully, as if someone had scoured the insides of his brain. What the hell had happened to him? Recovering even that small amount of memories had left him feeling drained, even more confused and – mysteriously – even more guilt ridden than before. As he stood there shaking and panting, a sudden wave of nausea gripped him. Ed gagged and stumbled to the door. He wrenched it open, almost colliding with Mustang who had been about to enter, and sprinted to the bathroom down the hall; ignoring the grief his injuries were giving him and Mustang's cry of surprise. He collapsed in front of the toilet heaving, but all that came out was a small amount of watery stomach acid, burning his throat on it's way up. He clung to the toilet for a few moments, trying to pull himself together. He could hear Mustang thundering down the hallway after him. _Jeez that man is so loud, _Ed moaned internally, _he's gonna bring everyone in the house here just to see what the noise is…_Ed smirked, despite his annoyance. For some reason, he felt some sort of ironic optimism, knowing that he'd remembered something. At least that meant it wasn't all lost. If he could just keep remembering things, then maybe – just maybe – he could fix himself.

Mustang skidded to a halt in the bathroom doorway, taking in the scene. Ed was still clinging to the toilet, and he had no doubt that he looked like crap. He definitely felt like crap, so it would be a bloody miracle if he didn't look it. Mustang looked like he was torn between worry and relief. It was a weird expression.

"What the hell, Edward! What's wrong? Are you okay?" Mustang asked hurriedly. Ed stared at him bewildered. What the hell indeed. Since when had Mustang cared so much about him?

"Just peachy," Ed croaked sarcastically, wiping his mouth. The worry in his expression lessened slightly and Ed's characteristic reply, and took a step forward. He looked a bit shocked, actually.

"My God, you're awake," he murmured. Ed arched an eyebrow.

"Well, _yeah_. It would be a bit difficult for me to be talking to you otherwise. Jeez Mustang, I thought you were supposed to be smart." Surprisingly, Mustang ignored the dig from Ed, choosing instead to merely roll his eyes. He was watching Ed warily. Suddenly, Mustang's conversation with Hughes drifted back to him. Mustang had seemed to think that he might not wake up. Ed frowned as he pieced it together.

"Wait a minute… Mustang how long have I been out?" Mustang regarded Ed carefully. "Just tell me." Ed sighed.

"You've been unconscious for three weeks, Edward." Ed's face went blank. Three weeks? That was almost another month gone! But at least he had remembered something. If he looked at it in the terms of Equivalent Exchange, then it wasn't so bad. His time for his memories. But he was sure that now he'd unlocked the first wave of memories, the rest would soon follow. He could decide what to do after he knew everything.

"Edward?" Mustang asked hesitantly. Ed glanced up at him. He looked unsure of himself, as if Ed was going to freak out on him any minute. Ed sighed.

"Well, at least I'm awake now, right?" He muttered. Mustang's face softened.

"You're family has been worried about you, we should go and tell them you're awake." He said moving forward to help Ed up. He allowed him to pull him up by his one arm, trying to hide his wince as his injuries seared and ached. Mustang wasn't fooled however.

"Are you in pain?" He queried, though it almost felt like a demand. Ed shrugged.

"Not really" He lied. Mustang glared at him.

"After what happened last time you were dishonest about you're injuries, FullMetal, I would advise you to inform us if you are in pain - preferably before it gets that bad again." Ed winced a little. He'd walked into that one.

"Fine, I'm in pain. Happy now?" Ed muttered sullenly. Mustang sighed, rolling his eyes in exasperation.

"No." He stated. Ed smirked.

"That's because you're a miserable bastard," he grinned obnoxiously. Mustang looked like he was trying not to smile. Ed took a step towards the door, grimacing as his automail leg jolted. He'd forgotten it was playing up.

"If I was out for three weeks, how come my injuries aren't more healed up?" Ed grumbled. He had intended it to be nothing more than that – grumbling – but Mustang replied.

"You weren't healing very well," he said quietly, "all your wounds seemed to be healing slower that they should. You gave us all quite the scare Edward." Mustang murmured. Ed looked at him strangely, and he seemed to realize that his professional façade had slipped. He coughed.

"Anyway, It's good to see you back on your feet, FullMetal." Ed raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment on it. With the support of Mustang, he made it down the hallway without incident. He could hear voices coming from the kitchen. He turned to Mustang.

"Is everyone in there?" He asked, a sly grin spreading across his face.

"Yes," Mustang replied absently, "they're all having breakfast, I think-" Mustang stopped abruptly at the sight of Ed's face.

"Well, _that's_ an evil smile," Mustang said disapprovingly, "what are you plotting FullMetal?" Ed smirked.

"They're not expecting me to be up, are they?" Ed asked slowly. Now it was Mustang's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"No, they all think you're unconscious still. I was supposed to be checking on you." He said warily.

"Perfect. Imagine the looks on their faces when I walk in…" Mustang shook his head.

"That's not very nice, Ed." He scolded.

"Just let me go in by myself." Ed sighed. Mustang frowned.

"I'm not becoming an accessory to you're evil doings, Edward." He threatened. Ed just rolled his eyes and shrugged off Mustangs supporting arm. Before Mustang could stop him, he walked as casually as he could through the kitchen door. Winry, Al and Hughes were all sitting around the large kitchen table and Pinako was hovering by the sink. As he walked in the all looked up. Ed forced himself not to look at them, making a beeline for the kettle.

"Morning," he yawned, pouring himself a cup of coffee. Once his mug was full he turned to survey the scene. Winry was on her feet, her mouth slightly open in disbelief, whilst Al had frozen with a forkful of egg halfway to his mouth. Hughes and Pinako looked equally stunned. Ed nonchalantly took a sip from the coffee to hide his smirk. Roy, still standing in the doorway, slapped a hand to his forehead. _At least he's acting more like his old self…_Mustang sighed internally.Casually, Ed looked around at the speechless occupants of the room.

"What?"

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**Wah, Ed's so mean! ^__^ **

**Well, that's another chapter up! :D I hope you all enjoyed it, Sorry it took so long! Oh, and sorry if the characters seemed really OOC again, it wasn't intentional! Oh and sorry there wasn't any EdWin in this chap either, I'll remedy that next time :D (Wah, so many apologies! XD)**

**Oh yeah – (1) I'm just going by the anime here. I believe Nina was four when Scar killed her, and Ed was twelve. If I'm wrong, please tell me ^__^**

**Hmm, I think I'll let Ed get some more memory back soon, but I'm not sure when. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon too! There was a lot of Roy in this chapter too… Hmm… It's kinda turning into a bit of a Parental!EdRoy fic as well as an EdWin… oh well. If anyone has complaints, I'll be happy to listen ^_^**

**REVIEWS PLEASE! Come on guys! If you read the story please review! It doesn't have to be anything flashy, just show some love! ^_^ Constructive Criticism is welcomed too! :D **

**Thanks a bunch to all those who review/favourite/add to alerts list too! And thanks to my regular reviewers:**

**Yugisrose**

**Very Swampeh**

**Whyle**

**Your support is very much appreciated! ^^ I love to read you comments!**

**Sooo, if you're reading this, please review! Don't make me use Ed as a hostage! XD**

**:D See you all next time ~ **


	10. Chapter 10

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Ed flopped down into the chair next to Winry still shaking with silent laughter.

"Ed shut up! It's not funny!" Winry fumed. Ed held up his hands… well, _hand_ in surrender.

"I didn't even say anything!" he laughed. Winry scowled at him. She had almost had a heart attack when she'd seen him walk through that door as if nothing had happened. And he was _still_ laughing about it.

"Ed, I swear, if you don't stop laughing you will have a wrench planted in your face. It can't have been _that_ funny!" she growled. Ed snorted.

"You didn't see your faces. It was priceless." He smirked, finally settling downenough to resume drinking his coffee. _I suppose I shouldn't be complaining_, Winry thought. At least he was awake. And she hadn't seen him smile properly for a long time, let alone laugh properly. Ed noticed her staring at him and grinned at her over his mug. Winry was shocked into a smile, before feeling a blush spread across her cheeks. She dipped her head to hide it.

"Brother, are you sure you should be walking around like that?" Al asked, a faint note of disapproval in his young voice. "You've only just woken up." Ed flapped his hand at him.

"Al, it's fine. From what I hear, I've been stuck in that bed for weeks. I'll go crazy if I stay in that room much longer!" he moaned. Al smiled.

"Okay, but don't push yourself." Across the room, Hughes and Roy were watching the scene, both armed with mugs of coffee – courtesy of Pinako.

"Sometimes it's hard to tell who's the older Brother with those two," Hughes commented, smiling. Roy nodded.

"Yeah, and Ed's height doesn't help," Roy smirked obnoxiously. Ed bristled.

"Hey! I can hear you General Bastard! AND I'M NOT SHORT! I've grown loads! I'm taller than Winry now; you're just a freakin' giant!" Ed yelled, irritably. He leapt to his feet.

"And another thing-" Ed stopped mid-rant, wincing. Everyone's heads snapped towards him.

"Ed?" Winry asked worriedly. She stood up quickly, moving over to him.

"I'm fine, it just twinged a little." He breathed. Slowly Ed sat back down again. "I probably just got up too fast." He said, picking his mug back up. Winry frowned.

"Well, it's probably time to change your bandages anyway," she said, motioning for Ed to get back up. He was only wearing a pair of loose pyjama trousers and no shirt, so his bandages were on display anyway. She was late changing them as it was.

"Aw, can't I finish my coffee first?" he grumbled, but got up anyway. Both Roy and Winry noted him wince a second time. Al looked up from his breakfast.

"Do you need any help Winry?" he asked, eyeing his Brother. Ed tossed his hair back – which was falling out of its ponytail – over his shoulder.

"Come on Al, I'm not that high maintenance." He said playfully.

"Your automail bill would disagree," Winry muttered. Ed grimaced.

"Come on, I want to check on that wound," Winry said ushering him into the hallway. Ed pulled a face at his brother before slipping out of sight through the door.

"Do you need any help walking?" Winry asked, watching Ed with concern. Ed frowned.

"I'm not an invalid you know, Winry." Ed said, a touch of amusement in his voice.

"Yes Edward, I know. But you're hardly in top condition right now. You don't always have to make everything seem less than it is." She gave him a reproachful look. Ed looked away.

"Sorry," he said quietly. That look was back on his face. It was as if he was remembering something terrible. His eyes seemed so… dull and quietly agonised sometimes. Winry swallowed. He seemed absorbed in his thoughts as they entered his room.

"Ed?" she said gently. He looked up startled from whatever thought had dragged that look into his eyes.

"I was wondering… did you remember anything new?" Ed's jaw tightened a fraction. It was a tiny movement, but Winry recognised that stubborn expression.

"Not really," he shrugged, "just flashes. Nothing important." He shook his head, as if to clear it.

"Anyway, do you want to do the honours or shall I?" he smiled slightly, gesturing to the bandages wrapped around his torso. Winry pursed her lips but let it drop. If Ed had remembered something, he would tell her in his own time. She hoped.

"Sit on the bed," Winry instructed as she ducked behind the bed to get fresh bandages from the drawers. Ed slumped onto the bed, flinching as he jarred his sore ribs. Winry straightened up and dumped the fresh bandages onto the bed next to him. Ed cleared his throat.

"Listen, Winry I just wanted to say I'm sorry," he began. Winry frowned.

"You already did, about two minutes ago." She teased. Ed shook his head, un-amused.

"No, I mean… I always put you through so much, and I'm sorry. I just-" Ed was cut off by the door opening. Mustang strode into the room closely followed by Al.

"Don't you ever knock?" Ed said, irritated. Mustang ignored him.

"Mind if we watch?" he said, leaning against the wall.

"It's not a spectator's event, General Bastard!" Ed said through clenched teeth.

"Brother!" Al scolded. He turned to Roy. "I'm sorry General, please excuse my brother." Ed scowled at Roy before settling back down on the bed.

"Ask Winry, she's the one who's got to do it," Ed muttered. Winry smiled.

"I don't mind." She said, amused by their banter.

Gently, Winry began to unwind the bandages from around Ed's chest. As she uncovered his ribs, Ed grimaced at the sight of the dark bruises that had blossomed across them.

"Were any of my ribs broken?" he asked carefully. Winry bit her lip.

"We're not sure, but it's likely that at least two were broken. Unfortunately, there's nothing we can really do except wait for them to heal." She said. Ed nodded. There were only a couple of layers left around the wound on his stomach now.

"Now, it's a bit of a mess," Winry warned, "but it should heal okay. Mr. Mustang didn't burn it too much. Just enough to close the wound over." Ed rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure I can handle it. After all, I've had a lot worse in my time." He smiled grimly. Winry continued unravelling the bandages, but stopped when Ed suddenly tensed.

"What?" Winry said warily.

"Nothing," Ed lied. Winry narrowed her eyes.

"Okay, okay!" he held up his hand. "It just, um, hurt a little." He admitted. Roy raised his eyebrows.

"What did?" Winry asked confused.

"I think the bandages are stuck to the wound…slightly." Ed explained. "It's probably just where it's healing, plasma and stuff." Winry hesitated.

"Well, what do you want me to do?" she asked. Ed twitched his nose.

"Just rip 'em off," he said offhandedly. Winry looked horrified.

"Ed! I can't do that!" she protested. He quirked an eyebrow.

"Why not?" he said, grinning at her. Winry scowled at him.

"Because! Firstly, it will _hurt_ you. Probably quite a lot. That burn is still really raw. Secondly, you're still healing. If I rip it off it's just going to take even longer to heal." Winry finished, satisfied with her argument. But Ed always had a comeback.

"Well then, what do you suggest? There's nothing else we can really do." Winry ground her teeth. He was right of course. If they wanted to change the bandages, then there wasn't anything they _could_ do. Ed waited patiently for her answer.

"Fine," Winry snapped, "but don't moan to me about it later when it's even rawer that it is now." Ed sighed and motioned for her to continue. As she unwound what was probably the second to last layer Ed silently gritted his teeth. She could feel the resistance from where it had stuck now, but continued to peel anyway. Ed's muscles tensed under his skin. The wound slowly came into view as the layers peeled away and Winry winced at the sight of the healing skin coming away with the bandages. Unsurprisingly, Ed made no sound, but his jaw tightened. As gently as she could, Winry peeled the last of the bandages away and stepped back to appraise the damage. The wound really was a mess. The skin where the burning ended looked sore and slightly inflamed, and the wound itself was raw and painful looking. The flesh was broken and angry but it was definitely healing, and it didn't look infected. Ed whistled.

"Wow Mustang, you really did a number! Painful but effective, I guess." He grinned lopsidedly at Roy, who narrowed his eyes in reply, but said nothing. Ed wrinkled his brow before shrugging and turning his attention back to his stomach.

"I'll only bandage it lightly this time, and I won't bandage your chest. You should be alright with a thin shirt over the top." Winry said, picking up the clean bandages. Ed nodded. It didn't take her long to dress the wound and lightly secure the bandages around his stomach. Ed climbed slowly to his feet.

"Thanks Winry, I owe you one. Well, I owe you several, actually." He said smiling wryly at her. Winry flushed slightly.

"I'll charge you double for the automail," she joked, causing Ed to grimace. He stretched, and then doubled hissing over as he strained the raw wound on his stomach.

"Brother! Are you okay?" Al asked worriedly. Ed straightened a little, wincing.

"Fine, I probably shouldn't have stretched, that's all." Ed insisted.

"Stop downplaying things, FullMetal." Roy said, watching Ed intently. He'd been quiet up until now. Ed looked irritated.

"It's none of your business," he commented. Roy clenched his fists.

"Yes, it is my business actually. You almost bled to death in front of me for Gods sake! You've put us all through hell worrying about you! You stopped _breathing_, Edward!" Roy yelled. Ed looked shocked. He rarely saw Mustang loose it like this.

"Stop dismissing things like they're nothing, and open up a little some time. We can't keep constantly guessing at what you're feeling!" Ed's eyes narrowed, and he looked as if he was going to say something, but Roy's closing question made him freeze.

"What the hell happened to you while you were missing?!" The effect of this particular question was instant. Ed's face went pale and he dropped his head. Al and Winry hovered, unsure of what to do.

"I'm sorry," Ed murmured. Roy looked taken aback. He had fully expected Ed to begin his trademark defensive ranting. Winry bit her lip. She could count on her fingers the number of times Ed had really apologised to anyone, and most of those times had been in the last few weeks. She was beginning to run out of fingers to count on. Ed raised his head slowly. His eyes had that same hollow, agonised look again. It was like some sort of split personality. One moment he was fine, but the next he was so…broken. Like he was doing his best to keep himself together. The tense situation was interrupted by Hughes putting his head around the door. He quickly took in the scene.

"Roy there's a call from Central for you. It's Hawkeye." He said, watching the room's occupants carefully. Roy nodded and strode from the room without saying a word. Hughes closed the door gently behind them. Ed rubbed his forehead.

"Brother? Maybe you should lie down for a bit." Al prompted cautiously. Ed shook his head.

"I'm gonna put some clothes on and maybe take a walk, clear my head a bit." He said. He seemed to have recovered slightly from Roy's speech. Al looked like he wanted to say something more, but Winry gently ushered him from the room.

"Come on, lets give him some privacy." She said, giving Ed a look that clearly said she'd be back to check on him. H could hear her voice receding down the hallway, whispering at Al.

"You'd better not go chasing after him if he goes for a walk either; we have to give him a break…"

Ed sighed. He needed to get out of here. He was driving everyone crazy, himself included. He quickly slipped some loose black trousers and a baggy button-up shirt. He poked his head out the doorway. He could hear Winry tinkering with something in her workroom and Mustang's low voice murmuring in the kitchen. Ed made his way down the hallway tot the kitchen. Mustang had his back to him and was still on the phone, and Hughes was nowhere to be seen. He quietly walked over to the open front door, not really caring if Mustang saw him or not.

Once he was outside, Ed felt much better. He still felt vulnerable with only one arm, but the cool breeze on his skin was calming and pleasant. He didn't really have a destination in mind, and was content with just walking aimlessly for the time being. Ed ran a hand through his bangs, accidentally freeing more hair from his already messy ponytail. He felt so messed up. He just couldn't seem to act normal whenever someone mentioned his forgotten memories. It was as if that monstrous feeling was always there, lapping at the edges of his mind, ready to surge forward and drag him down into depression. Although, depression didn't seem like the right word to describe that feeling. Despondency, maybe. Or perhaps despair.

The dark thoughts continued to swirl around Ed's mind, keeping him so occupied that he barely registered where he had ended up.

The quiet of the graveyard slowly penetrated his cold and clammy mind. It was almost like it was clearing his head. Gradually, Ed comprehended where he was. How long had he been walking? The graveyard was at least a 20-minute walk from the Rockbell house, and he couldn't even remember if he had come straight here.

A humourless puff of laughter escaped from his lips. He really must be messed up if the only place that seemed to be able to clear his head was a graveyard.

"Well, I might as well visit Mom while I'm here," Ed murmured softly to himself. The only people around to hear him were long past the capability of replying. Ed slowly picked his way over to his mother's grave.

"Sorry Mom, I don't have any flowers this time," He said softly as he walked around to the back of the gravestone. He sank to the floor, resting his back against the stone. "But I've come to keep you company for a while." Ed closed his eyes and drew his knees up to his chest, wincing as he was rewarded with a sharp pain from his injuries. He really did feel calmer here. It was weird, but the deafening silence seemed to fill his mind, leaving no room for the destructive thoughts that had recently been plaguing it. He rested his arm across his knees and dropped his head onto it. The clarity of mind was leading him to a new way of thinking. He had to uncover more memories, _that_ was clear to him, but how would he set about freeing them? Would he have to force them out like last time, or would they start to come to him more naturally now? As infuriating as it was, Ed would just have to wait. He had been sitting here for a while now, but did not feel compelled to move. It was peaceful.

Ed could feel a damp chill beginning to seep through the thin trousers and mist lightly at his arms. He ignored this, however, keeping his head buried in his arm. He couldn't have been out that long anyway, or someone would have come looking for him by now, and dragged him back to the house. It would have most probably been Winry, too. Ed smiled into his arm at the thought of his automail mechanic. Thinking about Winry always made him feel a little warmer, despite the amount of wrenches she regularly chucked in his direction. Lifting his head, Ed let his chin rest on his arm. What time was it? The sun was weakly attempting to shine through the clouds, but was losing the battle. Ed glanced upward and lifted his eyebrows in surprise.

He could see the sun behind the thick layer of cloud. He could also see that it was pretty high in the sky. He judged it to be roughly around noon, maybe a little after. Ed frowned. How had he lost track of time so easily? He was pretty sure he'd left the house just after breakfast time, and it felt like little more that an hour had passed, yet it was clearly at least around 2 o'clock. He rubbed his forehead, toying with the idea of going back for lunch. He was sure Al would be worried by now, if that much time had passed. Ed leaned his head back, closing his eyes.

_I'll go back in a little while, _Ed decided. He liked it here. It was calm, and he felt a bit less… wrecked. He could feel himself drifting into a light sleep. _Maybe I'll dream some more of my memories free… _Ed thought drowsily, before letting the darkness take him.

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Winry sighed, setting down the automail hand that she was working on. For the third time that minute, her eyes drifted absently to the clock on the wall above her head. It was nearing 3 o'clock and Ed still hadn't come back from his 'walk'. Normally, Winry would just leave him to it, but with Ed in the state he was now, that didn't seem like such a good idea. She bit her lip and rose quietly to her feet before making her way through to the kitchen. To her surprise, the kitchen was not empty.

"…we should get going now, I don't like how late it's getting." Roy was saying. Al nodded.

"Yes, but we probably shouldn't tell Winry." As she walked through the door, Roy and Al broke off their quiet discussion, identical expressions of guilt on their faces.

"Tell me what?" Winry asked, confused by their shiftiness. It was then she noticed that they both had their coats on. And the door was open. Al shuffled his feet slightly.

"Um… Hi, Winry," he mumbled. Winry narrowed her eyes.

"You two are going to look for Ed, aren't you?" she asked, though the answer was obvious. Roy, who didn't look _quite_ as guilty as Al, nodded. Winry pursed her lips, but said nothing, instead choosing to merely pick up her jacket off the back of the chair. After she had shrugged the jacket on, she folded her arms.

"Come on then," she said tilting her head towards the door. Al stared at her.

"I thought you told me not to chase after him earlier." He said, confused.

"Yes, but it's been hours. As much as I want to respect his privacy, he is still injured and one-armed." She replied, worrying her bottom lip. Then she scowled.

"Why were you two sneaking off anyway? It's not like I would have stopped you if you wanted to look for him." She said, still frowning. Al's expression cleared.

"Oh, it's not that we were keeping it from you for that sort of reason!" He said, "I just didn't want you to worry anymore. I thought that if we brought Ed back, it would save you the worry of having to look for him." Winry sighed, smiling at the sweet boy.

"Come on," she said, "let's just go and find Ed. I'd rather I knew where he was."

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**Ahh! I finally updated! I am really, **_**really**_** sorry it has taken me such a long time to update! And this chapter's not even very long! Gah, I understand if you all want to pelt me with wrenches right now… XD**

**Sorry not much happens in this chapter either, but I'm planning to update again tomorrow, so the story will (hopefully XD) progress more soon.**

**Um, I'll gladly take any criticisms or thoughts on this story, as always, and thanks to all those who take the time to review! It's much appreciated, really! :D**

**(Oh! Is anyone watching the new Brotherhood FMA anime? It's so epic! :D I love the manga, so I'm glad they've made a new anime to follow it!)**

**Anyways, thanks for reading folks, and I'd be mucho appreciative if you'll all review this chapter! :D **

**Ciaossu! XD **


	11. Chapter 11

I know, I know! I suck! I'm so sorry guys, really! But what can I say? I'm a really lazy updater! ^^' Please don't hate me! .

I guess you could call this chapter progression of sorts? Anyway, I've actually been working on a couple of other fics (which I haven't yet posted any of… XD) so hopefully you'll get to read those after I finish this one. If you want to subject yourselves to any more of my awful writing, that is! XD

**Well, without further ado, I give you chapter 11! I hope you enjoy it folks! :D**

_Italics_**: **Ed's flashbacks / peoples thoughts (Oh, and when Ed is thinking in his flashbacks, I'll keep it normal – not in italics. ^^)

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Roy, Al and Winry made their way down the winding road away from the Rockbell house, Roy striding off purposefully, ahead of the two teenagers. As he walked, Roy scoured the landscape for any sign of Ed, desperately hoping to catch a flash of gold. He hadn't liked the look he'd been catching in Ed's eyes since he had woken up. Something wasn't right there. He didn't need his experiences from Ishbal to tell him that – though he had seen more than his fair share of men broken by things that they would rather not remember. Sure, Ed was a strong person, and he always seemed to bounce back, but there were only so many burdens the human soul could bear. And Ed had already shouldered more burden than men perhaps three times his age had. After all, every one had a breaking point, Ed included, and he just hadn't seemed the same since he had been found.

No, there definitely wasn't something right, and he would rather find Ed sooner than later. But where would they look? The kid could be virtually anywhere!

Irritated by his current state of uselessness, Roy twisted his head to frown at Winry and Al, who had come to a stop at the fork in the road, which Roy had simply ignored.

"Hurry it up you two, we're never going to find Fullmetal at this rate." He shot back at them. Winry arched an eyebrow.

"Charging off in any random direction is going to get us nowhere, Mr. Mustang. You are currently headed down the road that takes us out of Risembool." She said, slightly amused at Roy's impatience. "I want to find him as quickly as you do, but we should at least have an idea of where we're going to start looking." Roy flushed slightly.

"Sorry," he mumbled, striding back over to stand next to Al. Winry bit her lip absently and her eyes raked across the horizon.

"Though that's something I have no idea of. Where would he have gone?" Winry murmured, more to herself than anyone else. Roy breathed in deeply through his nose.

"He can't have gone too far in the state he's in. What places are nearby that Edward would go to?" he asked. Winry rubbed her forehead, frowning.

"Well, he could have gone into the village, I suppose. Though there's not much there that would keep him busy for this long." Suddenly Al, who had been quiet for a while now, raised his head.

"Mom," he breathed. Roy looked at him questioningly. "I've been thinking." He announced. Winry smirked.

"Care to tell us what about?" she teased. Al scowled at her before continuing.

"Brother doesn't hide things from me as well as he thinks he does. He's feeling guilty about something. I can tell. Back when my soul was still attached to the armour, he would always look at me the same way, and whenever we came home to you and Granny, Ed would go and visit Mom." Al bit his lip. "Brother still thinks it was all his fault about Mom, and about what happed to me too. He's always felt guilty about it, all these years. I guess he goes to visit her when the guilt gets too much for him." Winry stared at Al in shock. When had he gotten so intuitive? No. Al had always been so in touch with his brother's emotions, that was no surprise to her really. But how could _she_ have missed something so important?

"When did you figure all this out Al?" she asked in wonder. Al blushed.

"Well, I hadn't really pieced it together until just now, but I knew Ed was feeling guilty about something new since he'd woken up. I'm still not sure what that is though." Al said, fresh worry blossoming across his features. Winry closed her eyes briefly, frowning.

"You and Ed have always dealt with so much – what could possibly have happened to him to make him feel this bad?" she said anxiously. Al shook his head.

"I don't know. What do you think he's been doing all this time at Mom's grave?" Al wondered. Dread settled in the pit of Roy's stomach.

"Come on," he said, "we'd better get to that graveyard and find Edward. Now." He finished darkly. Winry wordlessly took the lead, turning to head towards Risembool graveyard. Roy and Al followed silently, none of the group wanting to voice the dark concerns plaguing their thoughts.

***

_His head hurt. That was the first thing that Ed noticed. That and the back of his neck. _

_The second thing he noticed was that his right side felt oddly empty. He tried to move his automail, but was met with an odd feeling of emptiness, and a weightlessness that shouldn't have been there. He tried to right his muddled thoughts as he assessed the rest of his body. His automail leg still seemed to be intact, but he couldn't be sure until he opened his eyes, and he wasn't going to do that until he was sure he was alone. A little tip he had picked up from being in the military: let your captors think you are unconscious as long as possible in order to determine your surroundings and gather information discreetly. Ed sighed mentally. He didn't think he'd ever be in a situation where he had to rely on military tricks. _

'Oh well,' _he thought. _'It's not the time to complain about that now…'_Ed shifted slightly and bit his lip as a sharp pain shot down his neck. His head was really starting to throb, and he could feel something sticky and wet seeping down the side of his face. Other than that, the only other immediate problems he could detect were the fact that he was missing an arm, the distinct impression that his flesh arm was tied to something behind him, and that his feet seemed to be tied together. Despite the growing pain in his head and neck, Ed forced himself to lie limply as he slowly opened his eyes to the merest slits. He was immediately assaulted by a light which, even though dim, was too much for his eyes to handle, causing him to cuss mentally. After a few seconds his eyes adjusted enough to gain a fuzzy impression of the room through his slitted eyelids. His best guess was that he was still in the cave that he had been lured to, and after he was satisfied that he couldn't detect any movement, Ed cautiously slid his eyes fully open. Sure enough, the vaguely familiar cave came into focus around him, revealing that he was indeed alone. For now, anyway. He was currently sprawled painfully on his side, his arm bent awkwardly behind him. _

_ Hissing softly, he painstakingly dragged himself upright, ignoring the twinge in his biological arm as he righted himself. It was still stretched uncomfortably out backwards, but it was less awkward when he was sitting up than when he was lying down. He stretched his legs, tied together at the ankles by a thick chain, out in front of him. _

'Huh',_ Ed mused. _'Whatever happened to good old rope?' _As he moved his legs, the chain bit into his flesh one, making him wince. Ed could taste blood, though whether it was dripping into his mouth from the wound on his head or whether it was actually inside his mouth was unclear to him. He breathed in deeply through his mouth, trying to clear his head. Gently, Ed lifted his head from his chest and let his eyes wander over the contents of the room. Not much had changed in the room, other than his perspective. The tables piled with chemical flasks and thick, alchemic texts were still there, and the complicated arrays and transmutation circles still littered the walls and floor. Crude torches were affixed to the walls casting a dim, insubstantial light over his surroundings leaving the majority of the chamber to fade into a heavy blackness. The largest transmutation circle he could see was drawn onto the floor nearby, but other than chalk drawings, the ground was empty. Ed started, straining at his chains as he stiffened suddenly. Where was the girl from before? The one that had looked so much like Nina would have? His eyes swept rapidly over the room once more. She was nowhere to be seen. Did that mean that the man had taken her? Done something to her? If he was tied up here like this, missing an arm, then what was to say that the girl wasn't in even worse of a situation? Ed swallowed, feeling slightly sick. He had to get out of these chains and find out what was going on. _

_ Gritting his teeth, he twisted his neck to look back at his arm, ignoring the sharp pains that jabbed at his neck and back as he moved. His arm was chained to a horribly cliché, dungeon-like ring, which was attached to the cave wall. _

"_Heh," Ed chuckled dryly, wincing as the air scraped over his sore throat. "These guys really have no style. Couldn't they come up with something a little more original than chains, torches and creepy caves?" he muttered to himself. Slowly, Ed dragged himself backwards so that his back was against the wall and, therefore, closer to his restrained arm. A plan already forming in his mind, Ed used the small amount of leverage he had to manoeuvre himself into a kneeling position in order to gain a little more movement from his arm. He strained his arm towards his head, dipping his fingers into the fresh blood running down the side of his face before twisting again to get a better look at the wall that his arm was chained to. Ed smirked. This was too easy. Working quickly to keep the blood from drying out, he began to draw a basic transmutation circle onto the wall next to the ring. Once he was done, he grimaced at his work. The circle was fine, but he did not like to make a habit of drawing transmutation circles in blood. Ed pressed his hand to it, bending the alchemic current to his will. The familiar tendrils of blue light jumped across the wall and ring, crumbling the stone beneath them. Before more than four seconds had passed, Ed was scrambling painfully to his feet, his arm fully liberated from the chains, stumbling slightly from the head rush. _

"_Much better," he murmured softly as he ran a hand through his messy hair – which had incidentally fallen out of its ponytail at some point. As he stretched his sore muscles and tentatively touched at the nasty cut on his head, Ed scanned the room hopefully, trying to locate his missing automail. Of course, it was nowhere to be seen. There was no way, Ed mused, that he could ever get that lucky. Ed stood for a moment, paying only vague attention to the various aches and pains over his body, as he tried to come up with a decent plan of action. Still indecisive about what he should do, or where he should go now that he had freed himself, Ed wandered over to one of the many tables piled with alchemic texts and papers. Although he knew that he wasn't going to like what he found, Ed started to sift through the various books and papers. He figured he should at least verify what he already knew the man – and perhaps others – were doing with alchemy here. The books were every bit as taboo and complex as he had thought they would be – human chimeras, human transmutation and even soul binding. Most of the dark side of alchemy was collected in these books, and the circles scattered over the walls, floor and papers reflected it. Ed could recognise the makings of forbidden alchemy in a lot of them. Grimly, he moved away from the table. It was then that he heard footsteps in the darkness._

_ For about two seconds, Ed considered hiding. He quickly dismissed that thought, however, when he realised that there was not only limited places to hide, but also that there was no point, as he would probably be found quickly anyway. Plus he wanted to meet the bastard again anyway. Despite the fact that he had assaulted and imprisoned Ed, he was most likely doing unspeakable things with alchemy down there, which more than likely crossed into the realms of taboo, not only for alchemy, but for general humanity too. All in all, Ed was pissed – and arm or no arm, this guy was not going to have an easy captive on his hands._

_ Ed gritted his jaw and turned towards the sound of the footsteps, his eyes blazing angrily into the darkness. The steps definitely sounded human, and he was sure that the man would want to check on him for whatever reason. He hadn't lured Ed down here for nothing, after all._

_ Sure enough, the man from before shuffled into view, not really paying attention to his surroundings. His head was down as he made his way across the room. Ed put his one hand silently on his hip, waiting for the man to notice him. Eventually, the man raised his head and caught sight of Ed, standing ostentatiously in front of him. Ed was quite pleased with he reaction he got. The man's mouth fell open into an O shape and he stumbled backwards slightly, blinking furiously. Ed smirked._

"_How did you get free?" he said, breathless from the shock. Ed rolled his eyes._

"_I'm an alchemist, remember? And a good one, too. They don't call me a genius for no reason." Ed said conversationally, "Seriously though, you're a terrible kidnapper. I could have just run off by now and –" Ed stopped at the sight of the gleaming object stuffed under the mans arm. _

"_Hey! Is that my arm?" Ed said indignantly. The man, who still looked confused and slightly shocked, glanced down at the object briefly, before gaining his composure somewhat and turning his eyes back to Ed._

"_Ah, yes. I need you now. You need to come and perform some alchemy for me, you should be more than qualified with your background in human alchemy… there's just this one stage I can't seem to get right." He said. Ed raised his eyebrow, regarding the man as though he were a lunatic – which he probably was._

"_Oh, yeah. Sure. Whatever you need." He snorted sarcastically, shaking his head. The man narrowed his eyes._

"_You seem to be forgetting that you are imprisoned here, Edward," Ed frowned at this, not liking the way he said his name, but let him continue._

"_I don't know how you got out of your restraints, but I have your arm, and without it, you can't do any quick alchemy. At least not quick enough to combat this, anyway." He finished, drawing an ugly, square-nosed handgun from his pocket. Ed sighed and raised his arm in defeat. He had already run through most of the possible plans of action, and decided he was going to see exactly what form of depraved alchemy this lunatic was up to anyway. He probably could have overpowered the man, but he didn't really feel like dodging bullets. A bullet wound wouldn't help his situation any, and he still had to find that little girl before this man did something vile to her. He couldn't let this be Nina all over again._

"_Who are you, anyway?" Ed snapped at him irritably as the nameless man jabbed the gun into his back, directing him into the darkness._

"_Careful, Edward. I don't think I like your tone." The man said, clearly enjoying his power over him. Ed snorted. _'I **definitely** don't like your tone,'_ he thought insolently. _

"_But I suppose it is only polite to introduce myself. We'll be spending a lot of time together, after all." Ed shuddered involuntarily at this statement. Cold fingers of dread and suspicion began to take root in his stomach. He didn't like this one bit._

"_You can call me Dr. Jocas Kine." He said._

"_No thanks." Ed muttered glibly, earning himself a sharp jab in the back from the gun. After a few moments, Ed spoke again._

"_I've never heard of you," Kine was leading him down a narrow passage that split off from the large chamber that he had just been in._

"_No, I don't suppose you have," Kine said, somewhat darkly. Ed frowned into the darkness as they walked. The horribly familiar stale and unpleasant scent that had hung thickly in the air up until now was growing more pungent as they went further. It was seeping up his nose, filling his lungs and made him want to gag._

_ Gradually, the narrow passage opened up into another cave, this one much smaller than the previous. Though it was dimly lit, he could see all the walls of the cavern, and all the horrors it contained. The room was filled with cages; much like any other chimera lab Ed had been to, usually on military business, but the chimeras in these cages were unlike any he had ever seen. _

_ The piteous howls that tore from the warped vocal chords of the creatures in the cages - animalistic, but with a disturbingly human range – seemed to press on his eyes and ears, resonating inside his skull and making him dizzy. _

_And then there was the smell. _

_The thick oppressive odour that had followed him through the cave was even more concentrated here than anywhere else. He could finally place the scent._

_It had been there when he had fought the Homunculi in lab 5._

_It had been there when he had found poor Nina in the basement with Tucker._

_And it had been there when that pitiful, horrifying creature – for it could not be called his mother – had lain wheezing and bleeding and pulsing on the floor, with his brother staring at him through its ruined eyes._

_It was the smell of darkness, despair, and of death._

_Rotting flesh and souls that didn't fit the bodies, screaming out at the wrongness of it all. Ed staggered as the strength of his forcibly repressed memories and the nauseating sights, sounds and smell culminated into a pressure that was too much to handle. He gasped as oxygen eluded him momentarily, and planted his feet firmly, despite the gun in his back._

"_What's the matter? I thought this kind of thing was commonplace for military dogs." Kine said, mildly. Ed was too messed up to give his usual sharp-witted reply, and too busy focusing on merely staying upright. His head was aching more than ever, and the unwelcome familiar smell combined with the din of the chimeras was making him more than a little nauseous._

_ Ed pitched suddenly to one side, barely noticing Kine cocking the gun in alarm. He then proceeded to vomit close to – but woefully not on top of – Kine's shoes. After a couple more dry heaves, Ed staggered shakily back to his feet, wiping his mouth. Glaring at Kine, he struggled to form the words that could tell this man how sick he was. How much Ed already hated him for what he had done to these people._

"_This is disgusting. This isn't just a taboo in alchemy; it's a sin against nature. You're playing God, Kine, and you mark my words, you will burn for it." Kine blinked, the corners of his mouth twisting upwards into an unpleasant smile._

"_Oh, how the worm talks!" Kine spat. "This is more than a little hypocritical of you, Mr. Elric. I've heard the stories. You've played God, just like me. A dog of the military, of all things, will not judge me!" Ed shook his head in disgust. He had seen men of Kine's type before. Nothing Ed could think up to say would make any difference to Kine. He turned back to face away from him._

"_Let's just get on with this," Ed snarled. Surprisingly, Kine obliged with nothing more than a jab in his back with the gun to get Ed moving._

_ Kine led him through the maze of cages, towards the back of the room where there was a large seemingly empty space. Empty except for the immense and meticulously detailed transmutation circle smothering the floor. Ed came to a halt in front of it, his feet just inches from the edge of the design, and sighed._

"_I'm not going to pretend to be surprised to see this sort of thing here… Aw, what the heck. Wow. Very surprising." He rolled his head around to frown at Kine. _

"_But there is something I don't get. You clearly have more than enough knowledge on human transmutation – and trust me _any_ knowledge on this is more enough knowledge – and your circles seem to be pretty accurate for whatever it is you're trying to do. So what do you need me for? What could I possibly know on this sick subject area that will get you whatever it is you want? And this is me just hoping that you want me for my alchemic skills, otherwise it leads me to ask how many other young men you've kidnapped and held at gunpoint. Maybe I should start worrying." Ed grimaced with his sarcastic closing. Kine ignored the comment. He gave Ed a long, considering look, as if he were trying to decide something. Ed drew himself up to his full height which, he noted with immense satisfaction, was at least 2 or 3 inches greater that his captors. Ed had only collected himself a little since being thrown off by the horrific chimeras, and Kine's next statement broke through his façade as though it were no more than paper._

"_Very well. I wish to summon the Gates of Truth." _

_ At that instance, everything crumbled inside him. The little colour in his drab surroundings appeared to leech away completely, and the air suddenly felt much thinner. His lungs seemed to stop working. In this single moment of sickening clarity, everything began to add up; Kine's mutterings: "_…there's just this one stage I can't seem to get right…",_ the insane amount of failed human transmutations, the oddly structured circles scattered all over the caverns. _

_He had been down here, violating all the things that alchemy was supposed to stand for, all in an attempt to access the gate. _

_ After Al had been restored, Ed thought he would never have to face that monstrosity again, and now this man – this sinful, callous, pathetic excuse for a man – wanted him to drag out something that nobody was ever meant to see? Something which contained such atrocious things that it surely must come from somewhere in the depths of hell - if indeed there was such a place. _

_The gate had taken so much from him, from Al. In fact, his arm and leg were still somewhere in there, drifting in that eerie white _

_Something in Ed snapped._

_His head flicked up in order for his eyes to meet Kine's. The man blinked, stepping back from Ed. His auric eyes, normally such a rich, warm colour, were colder than they had ever been. Inexpressible anger and blunt resolution reflected back at Kine. When Ed spoke it was low, dangerously so, the sound of a man close to the edge._

"_You don't even realise what you're asking of me, do you?"_

_Ed took a step forwards, and for a moment, Kine features flickered, showing the fear that should have been there the moment he had showed Edward the chimeras. He raised the gun threateningly._

"_You've been keeping me here against my will, hell, usually that alone would be sufficient to piss me off enough to knock you about before handing you over to the military, but by asking this of me after showing me the unspeakable atrocities you have committed… you are walking a _very_ thin line." He laughed humourlessly before continuing. _

"_If you know anything about me, it is that I am not known for my patience and good temper. I might still seem but a child to you, but I am not someone to play games with." _

_ By now, a thousand different plans – tactics to escape, methods to take Kine down – had flown through his mind, all of them starting out more or less the same; getting back his arm. Without giving him time to react, Ed ducked low and snapped out his metal leg, knocking Kine's feet out from beneath him. As Ed had predicted, the gun went off, the shot echoing around the cave, but the bullet went wide, embedding itself somewhere in the ceiling in the blackness above them. Kine landed with a satisfying flumping sound, flat on his back, and as he had fallen, Ed's automail had been knocked from his grasp, landing a few feet from him. Snatching it ups as he ran, Ed left Kine struggling to right himself after his unsuspected fall and – fighting the urge to kick him as he passed – threw himself behind a table piled high with books. Once safely behind cover, Ed gritted his teeth. He knew he had to act fast, but he never enjoyed this part. Grimly, Ed positioned his recovered automail over the port in his shoulder, before taking a deep breath and – unable to stall any longer – shoving it back in. _

_Instantly, the blistering pain of his nerves re-connecting exploded in his shoulder. His whole body arched to compensate for its intensity, and Ed found himself biting back a scream as the pain spread excruciatingly across his torso. True to form, however, no sound left his lips, and after a few moments, the pain receded to a sharp ache in his shoulder port, flaring up whenever he moved._

_Ed cursed under his breath. His co-ordination would be off for hours._

_He wondered vaguely if Kine had seen which table he had dived behind._

"_Edward? Where are you hiding Edward?"_

_Ed's lips twisted into a grim smile. Obviously not then._

_Kine's shout echoed around the dark cave, ringing with a noticeable edge of desperation. Kine needed him. Or at least, Kine _thought_ he needed him, and it was clear, Ed surmised mentally with a grimace, that he wouldn't let him go easily. After all, once Ed was free, he had the upper hand. There was no way Kine would be able to trap Ed like this again, and his escape would effectively end all of Kine's plans. Whatever the hell those were anyway. Though there were usually only a handful of things on someone's mind when their plans included summoning the gate._

_Kine's shuffling footsteps sounded closer and closer, leaving Ed with few options but to carry out the most reckless, and secretly most preferable, route of action._

* * *

**Okay, so here is another – admittedly long overdue – update! Haha, sorry guys, but I really have been ridiculously busy recently. ^^' Sorry I ended this chapter in such a crap place! **

**So, I'm aware that this story is really flawed. I'm not pleased with it; it needs a lot of work. To name a few things, the cliché plot, the continuity and the characterisations.**

I know that Kine is a really unoriginal antagonist, and his way of talking is kind of rubbish. I read some of the stuff I've written back sometimes and find it really cringey… XD

**In truth, I wrote the main body of this Fic when I was much younger, and have pretty much been editing it and rewriting parts as I go along. **

**Anyway, I will keep updating, and uploading new chapters, haha, I'm determined to see it through to the end! **

**Afterwards, I will definitely re-write it, and re-upload the whole thing, be until then; please continue to bear with my crappy writing! Ehehe!**

**Thank you for all your fantastic reviews, especially my regulars: you know who you are! ^^**

**You guys really help to get this lazy writer moving! :D**

**Anyway, you all know the drill: Reviews and criticisms are all loved! I'll really try to update again as soon as possible, so keep watching this space! **

**Thanks for reading!**


	12. Chapter 12

_He waited, in his crouched position behind the table, right up until Kine's shoes appeared by his face, before throwing himself out in front of him, his stance cat-like, leaving Ed ready to make his next move. Which happened to be an uppercut involving Ed's biological fist and Kine's face._

_He refrained from using his automail. He didn't want to _kill_ the guy, after all – just cause enough bodily harm for satisfactory payback._

_Of course, the gun went off again, just as Ed's fist made contact with Kine's jaw, but as the ringing silence that followed the shot wasn't accompanied by blinding pain, he could safely assume that the bullet had once more missed its target._

_Kine tumbled to the floor for the second time in the last few minutes, the gun this time bouncing noisily from his grasp. Ed seized it as it skittered to a halt by his boot, giving it a calculating look before stowing it in his pocket._

_It just wasn't his style to point a gun at defenceless man, no matter how much of an ass said man was. _

_He chose instead to clap his hands, drawing one of his signature blade-tipped staves from the earthen ground and holding it defensively in front of him. Kine looked up at him wide eyed, nursing a split lip and a swollen jaw. Ed watched him wearily, his head throbbing sharply from what he could only assume was the head injury from before. He stubbornly stayed upright without showing any weakness, however, curling his lip slightly as he regarded the man crumpled in front of him._

"_Now, what'cha say we take a trip down to Central, so that I can turf you over to the military and finally hand in my report – which better still be in tact somewhere around here, by the way – to Mustang. He's enough of an ass to deal with on a normal day, but thanks to you, I'm gonna have to deal with him being pissy about my lateness, on top of that. _And_ I have a headache." Ed snarled, glowering as he touched the cut on his forehead. Incredibly, Kine looked unconcerned that a very pissed off Fullmetal Alchemist was looming over him, holding a sharp weapon. Instead his eyes were fixed on something behind Ed. Frowning, Ed started to turn, only to be immobilised by a pair of arms hooking underneath his own, holding him fast and lifting his feet from the ground. _

"_What the-mpfh!" A third arm, from God only knows where, to cover his mouth and nose. He didn't fail to notice that the arms, much like a bears, were covered in thick dark fur, and that the familiar sour, cloying smell was filling his nostrils again, stronger that before._

'_Chimera...'Ed thought darkly, kicking his legs against the mass behind him in a vain attempt to dislodge himself from the grasp of the much stronger chimera. Kine got slowly to his feet, brushing himself down as he did so, an infuriatingly smug smile on his lips._

"_Come now, Edward," he said silkily, moving towards where he was held captive. "Out of all the chimeras I made, didn't you even consider that at least one would be successful?" Ed glared at him, curses muffled by the chimeras paws. Kine laughed, his spirits absurdly high for someone that had just been punched in the face, and signalled to the chimera to hold Ed tighter. Ed winced as what he could only guess was claws pierced his shoulders. He struggled again fruitlessly, but his stomach dropped slightly as he realised that amount of oxygen he could draw in was being seriously restricted by his blocked airways, and he was beginning to feel light headed. Kine, who was now uncomfortably close to Ed, smiled obscenely and reached towards Ed's trousers. Ed's golden eyes widened, confused panic momentarily entering them, but Kine merely reached into Ed's pocket, still smiling, and pulled out the gun. _

"_Can't have you running around with this now," he murmured, sliding it into his own pocket. Ed, feeling fainter by the second, struggled again, weaker now, suffering from the lack of oxygen. The claws pressed deeper into the backs of his shoulders, and Ed could feel warm liquid seeping into his shirt, spreading darkly and alarmingly quickly across his chest. His vision was beginning to swim. Kine's grin slipped a little._

"_Careful!" He snapped at the massive chimera, "I need him alive, with his mind fully functioning. Don't suffocate him!" The pressure lessened slightly, and Ed kicked feebly at the chimera again, frustrated with his own powerlessness. His eyesight greyed at the edges, and he could feel his grip on consciousness slipping again. He growled angrily. How could he have been so careless? How could he have forgotten that, the first time he had been captured, Kine had been assisted then too? His mind jumped erratically from escape plan to escape plan, and he almost deliriously wondered whether Central had missed him yet. He knew it was the oxygen deficiency scrambling his thoughts, and unsuccessfully attempted to draw in another breath, but the arms covering his airways were also restricting his chest. His last coherent thought before his eyes rolled up into his head and unconsciousness dragged him under was, bizarrely, that Mustang was going to be really pissed this time. Ed bet he'd caused him a whole mountain of paperwork. _

* * *

Their footsteps intruded, in what seemed to be an oddly loud taboo, on the quiet of the graveyard. The light had long since faded from the sky, and the dull grey of dusk frowned upon them, weighing heavy on the shoulders of the three, the crunching of their footfall reaching out into the moist air. What could initially be mistaken for tranquillity felt increasingly like a disapproving oppression; they did not belong here, the static headstones seemed to mutter, it is a place for the dead, not for the living to dwell as they please.

Roy breathed out forcefully, noting absently that he could just about see his breath misting in the air. With the absence of sunlight, the temperature had begun to drop quite quickly. He turned to Al.

"Which way is it to your mother's grave, Alphonse?" he asked, voice automatically dropping to fit with the hushed surroundings. Al nodded in the direction of a lone tree, about 100 yards away.

"That way, just over the crest of the hill. You'll be able to see it when we reach that tree." Even as Al was talking, Winry had already begun to move silently in the direction he had indicated, forcing the two men to jog quickly after her. None of them attempted to voice their mutual concern for what they might find, but Winry secretly held onto the hope that Ed was fine, that he really _had_ just lost track of time, and that their fears would be unfounded.

Having the longest legs of the three, Roy was the first to reach the tree, Winry and Al still a number of strides behind when he scanned the scene in front of him. A surge of panic rushed through her body, curling an iron fist around her heart, as Winry saw Roy freeze momentarily, and then break into a run. She and Al followed suit, the silence punctured by Al's desperate, questioning cry of "General?" as they ran.

Roy's mind had gone eerily blank. After reaching the tree, his eyes barely had to search the sprawling clusters of gravestones before he located Trisha Elric's out of the crowd. Not that her headstone had any particularly distinguishing features; in fact it was much the same as the ones that surrounded it. No, what drew his gaze towards this headstone, what the other graves lacked in comparison, was the motionless body of a young man, lying loosely curled on his side, face turned away. In the few seconds that he stood there, frozen, a raven fluttered to land carelessly on top of the headstone above Ed, its dark feathers gleaming quietly as it carked almost plaintively into the rapidly approaching evening gloom. At that moment, Roy felt that the scene before him was one of the most terrifying that he had ever faced.

He found himself breaking into a run, not stopping to acknowledge someone – Alphonse? – cry out his rank in alarm behind him, his focus directed entirely at the prone figure before him as thoughts flooded clumsily through his mind, only a few of them coherent;

'_Please, God... if there is anything divine up there whatsoever, then please let him be okay... damn it, don't tell me he's gone and done something stupid...'_

Within a matter of seconds he was skidding to his knees beside Ed, his noisy arrival provoking indignant chattering from the ruffled bird as it retreated to the safety of a nearby tree. He swallowed dryly as he rolled Ed, as gently as he could, onto his back, wincing as he noted how cold and clammy the young man's skin was, and the paleness of it. The dread that had settled uncomfortably in the pit of his stomach churned sharply as he realized just how long Ed could have been lying out here, in the cold, damp graveyard – something that was never good for a _healthy_ person to do, let alone someone with a serious injury, who had practically been in a coma for the past three weeks. Dark little thoughts of hypothermia, exposure and shock wormed their way to the surface of his mind – Ed could easily have any of the three, if not all at once. Panicked, Roy shook him carefully by the shoulders.

"Fullmet-" he stopped himself. "_Edward,_" he corrected, speaking his name firmly. "Edward, can you hear me? Edward?" The young man's head rolled limply to one side, his golden hair spilling over his face. Roy, breathed in unevenly, bringing his fingers to Ed's throat to check his pulse. It was at this moment that Winry and Al arrived beside him, falling to their knees in much the same manner as Roy had a few minutes previously.

"B-Brother?" Al's questioning cry came out as almost a whisper. Roy barely registered it; he was still holding his breath, fingers pressed to Ed's neck. He waited, for what seemed like an eternity, though it couldn't have been more than a few seconds in reality, angling his fingers in every possible direction to try and seek out his pulse.

And, suddenly, it was there.

It was too fast, and erratic, but it was there.

Relief washed over him, almost crippling in its intensity, and Roy released the breath he'd been holding. Winry moved forward to brush the hair from Ed's face.

"Is he...?" her question hung fragilely in the stagnant air, and she continued to smooth Ed's hair, the only sign that she'd spoken being the tremor in her hands as she waited for Roy's answer.

"He has a pulse," he said quickly, before Winry could assume the worst. His eyes strayed to Ed's face, lingering for a moment on it. His pale skin looked almost grey in the half-light, and the contrast with the dark circles under his eyes was stark; the shadows almost looked like bruises. Winry pressed a hand to his face.

"His skin is really cold, and his breathing is shallow," she murmured softly, almost to herself. Years of reading medical textbooks, and working with a variety of automail patients was kicking in, and she began to catalogue Ed's symptoms. "vasoconstriction is paling the skin, he's tachycardic and so far unresponsive but doesn't seem to be shivering." She turned her face towards Roy. "If I had to guess, I'd say he's hypothermic." Roy nodded; what she was saying made sense. Whilst he hadn't had any formal medical training, nor had he the medical background that Winry possessed, he was still a soldier, and had dealt with enough conditions in the field to understand what was going on.

"Either that, or he's going into shock. Help me check him over for any new injuries?" Roy asked, running his hand along Ed's arm. Winry nodded, and began to check his torso, where it wasn't bandaged, noting with some relief that the dressing was still clean. Ed's arm proved to have no injuries, other than some bruising around the needle hole made by the IV. Al had been quiet so far, sitting back and letting the two more experienced members of the party check over his brother.

"Is he going to be okay?" he asked, feeling smaller that he'd felt in a long time. Winry's eyes blazed with determination.

"Yes. But we need to get him back to the house and warm him up – check him over properly. He's been out here a long time, and we don't know how long he's been unconscious for." She reached out to smooth Ed's shirt back down over his bandages, realising grimly that Ed was only wearing a thin, short sleeved shirt, and cotton trousers – not exactly insulating clothing. She turned to Roy.

"I've never really dealt with hypothermia before; just read about it in my parents medical books. Do you think we should move him?" Roy scrubbed a hand over his face tiredly. He'd dealt with hypothermia himself on several occasions; it was a common risk as a soldier was exposed to the elements a lot of the time and especially common during wintertime wars and sieges, which he'd seen his share of. However, most of the time, it had been nameless fellow soldiers he'd had to help, not anyone as close as Ed – treating someone he knew so well was much more draining. He found himself guiltily realising that he cared a whole lot more for Ed's well being than he had for any of the soldiers he'd had to try and aid during wars and field missions. Winry's face was pinched with worry, she was biting her lip viciously in an attempt to distract herself from the gnawing anxiety and terror she felt inside. Everything was falling apart; Ed was getting worse instead of better. Roy exhaled loudly.

"I'm worried about how long he's been unconscious. It's also going to be pretty difficult to get Ed back to the house without him at least somewhat cooperative." He rolled forward on his knees, leaning over Ed's motionless form. Gently, he pried one of Ed's eyelids open, encouraged when the pupil dilated as light hit his eye. He let the lid slid back into place and lightly patted Ed's face in an attempt to rouse him. The fingers of Ed's left hand twitched. Al leapt forward.

"He moved!" a ghost of a smile graced the younger Elric's lips as he watched his brother's face for any sign of his waking. "Brother?"

Ed's breathing hitched, becoming deeper for a moment, then shallow again. His eyelids fluttered. Winry shuffled back slightly, pulling Al with her. Roy had the most experience here; he would know what to do better that she.

"Move away from him, Al. It's best he's not crowded if he's going to wake up." Al abided quietly, and they both hung back as Roy kneeled forward, checking Ed's pulse again. It was still too fast.

Ed's eyelids fluttered again, and this time his lips parted in a gasp, his body convulsing slightly. He was shivering now and – though it was difficult to tell in the fading light – his lips were beginning to look a little grey.

"General!" Al pleaded, watching his brother inexplicably struggle for breath. Roy moved forward, grasping Ed's shoulders. The young man seemed for all the world to be having a nightmare, thrashing weakly in Roy's arms, skin still freezing to the touch. Suddenly, Ed's eyes flew open, staring straight up at the darkening sky, and he gasped out one word.

"...Kine..." Confused, Roy glanced at Winry, but she seemed none the wiser on the matter, and he turned his attention back to Ed. He seemed to be struggling to keep his eyes open, still breathless and limp.

"Edward? Ed, can you hear me?" he spoke softly, but firmly. Ed stiffened, still murmuring incoherently. Roy thought he heard the word 'chimera' in there somewhere. He reached out to grab Ed's arm again, but this time he reacted unexpectedly. As soon as Roy touched him, Ed jerked backwards, his eyes wild, but at the same time, strangely blank. Roy's stomach sank as he realised that Ed didn't recognise him, or even seem to know where he was. He lay awkwardly on his side, with only one arm to balance on, and seemed to look through Roy.

"I-I won't help you... you bastard..." he gasped, still battling some unseen force for air. Roy raised his eyebrows, unsure of how to reply. Edging slightly closer, he adopted a low tone and tried again.

"Edward, it's Roy Mustang, can you hear me?" This seemed to have an effect. His eyes wavered, and something like recognition flared in them. He frowned, shivering.

"M-Mustang?" He drew in uneven, short breaths. "I-I'm sorry," he panted. Roy looked confused.

"For what?" he asked, edging closer. Ed shivered convulsively.

"I-I'm, ah, l-late for my r-report... ag-gain," Roy opened hi s mouth to reply, but was cut short by Ed rolling over suddenly, leaning heavily on his only elbow as he gagged, bringing up the meagre amount of food in his stomach. Roy swore, darting the short distance to his side and holding him up before he could do a face-plant in the dirt. Ed retched emptily a couple more times, shivering.

"Ed?" Roy asked tentatively. He groaned, lifting his head slightly to look groggily at Roy. His eyes, Roy noted, had a new shine of clarity to them.

"M-Mustang?" Bemusedly his eyes travelled past Roy to the gravestones behind him, and then to Winry and Al. "Wh-where the hell a-am I? Why i-is it s-so g-god damn c-cold?"

Roy studied Ed for a moment before reaching up and rubbing a hand over his face.

"Shit, Ed. How many times are you going to try and kill me with a heart attack this week? Just a rough estimate?" He helped the shivering man to sit up and shrugged off his coat.

"Here," he said, wrapping the greatcoat around Ed's shoulders. He wheezed, massaging his ribs absently, still unable to take any full breaths.

"D-damn that b-bastard... nearly s-suffocated me..." he murmured, the shivering distorting his words. Frowning, Roy took a hold of Ed's shoulders again, forcing him to look at him.

"Edward, where do you think we are?" he queried quietly. Ed blinked sluggishly, his movements worryingly slow. Gradually, whatever was clouding his vision cleared, and he looked tiredly around again.

"O-oh," he slumped forward again slightly. "Y-yeah, I know. I-I remember..." he trailed off cryptically. Roy shook him gently, trying to keep him awake. His stomach twisted anxiously; Ed was clearly confused, he wasn't really coherent, and was worryingly vague and distracted. Definitely hypothermic.

"R-risembool." Ed's head jerked up, his eyes holding Roy's, clear once again. Roy quirked an eyebrow.

"Excuse me?" Ed wrinkled his nose.

"Y-you asked m-me wh-where we are, s-stupid," the usual sarcasm in Ed's tone was ruined by the tremors in his voice. He juddered forward suddenly, a hiss of pain shaken from his lips. Roy caught him, alarmed, watching as Ed brought his left hand up to claw at his empty automail port.

"Whoa, easy! What's wrong?" His features were contorted with pain, and Winry darted forward with what Roy considered to be a very un-ladylike swear on her lips.

"It's his automail!" She hurriedly moved to roll up his trouser leg, exposing the automail. The flesh around the port did not look good; the scars from the surgery looked a dark bluish purple colour, and the skin was beginning to turn blue. The metal was leeching the warmth from his body rapidly, and Winry could only imagine that the cold steel felt like fire next to his skin.

"We need to get him back to the house; if we don't warm him up soon, the cold is going to cause permanent damage to his limbs where the automail joins."

Ed grabbed at one of Roy's arms with surprising strength.

"I-It's fine," he said, through clenched teeth, "h-help me up," Roy nodded mutely, sliding an arm around Ed's waist as Winry stepped back, and hauled Ed up to his feet. It was a good thing Roy kept a hold of Ed; he was standing for no more than a few seconds before his legs buckled, nearly dragging them both back to the ground.

"S-sorry," Ed mumbled, grasping at Roy's shirt in an attempt to regain his balance. Roy shook his head, pulling Ed's arm around his shoulder and slipping his own back around Ed's waist.

"Jeez, Ed, you're a mess," his mouth quirked slightly in a morbid smile, though smiling was the last thing he felt like doing right now. Ed snorted shakily.

"_Yo-You're_ a m-mess," he slurred. Not the greatest come back, but it was a start.

Winry bit her lip, indecision battling across her face. She didn't want to leave Ed, but someone had to run back ahead to prepare what they'd need to treat him, and to inform Granny of what had happened. As much as she wanted to stay, Al would be better suited to helping Roy carry Ed, should he need it – despite being only 14, Al was already practically as tall as his brother, and stronger than Winry – plus, Winry would be able to find what they needed the fastest.

"I-I'll run back ahead first," she said, making her decision. "Someone has to prepare what we need for Ed, and I'm not going to be as much help as Al will be carrying Ed back." Ed turned his head weakly.

"I-I can walk, y-you know," he stammered huffily. Roy shifted his position, holding Ed tighter as he swayed on the spot.

"Yeah, 'cos your doing such a great job with _that_ right now," he grunted snarkily. Al put a hand on Winry's shoulder, and smiled slightly.

"Thanks, Winry. Tell Granny we'll get him back as fast as possible." She nodded and took off in a run back the way they'd come. Roy watched her go briefly before turning his attention back to the wilting young man under his arm. Ed's eyelids were drooping, and his condition seemed to be worsening. Grimly Roy nudged him.

"Come on, Edward. Can you start walking for me?" His gaze drifted vaguely to Roy's, movements still concerningly slow, before he nodded absently, stumbling forward with Roy's aid, uncharacteristically obedient.

"Do you need any help, General?" Al asked softly, ready to assist should he be needed.

Roy shook his head.

"He's gotten a lot lighter since the last time I had to do this," he trailed of bleakly. Al bit his lip, matching his pace to theirs. As they walked, Ed's movements became increasingly uncoordinated, and he tripped a few times, his automail leg especially uncooperative. They had just reached the tree at which Roy had originally spotted Ed from, when Ed pitched unexpectedly forward, a dead weight dragging Roy down with him. Ed jolted from Roy's grasp as they hit the floor, Roy landing on all fours and Ed rolling slightly, unmoving from the spot on which he fell. Roy cursed and scrambled over to the fallen teenager, Al hot on his heels. Edward was curled in on himself slightly; a thin sheen of sweat covering his clammy skin, and his face was drawn with pain. He opened his eyes, just far enough for the golden irises to show through.

"A-automail," he spat out the word through gritted teeth as an explanation. Together, Roy and Al rolled Ed onto his back, and Al yanked at his shirt collar to get a better look at the scarred flesh around the shoulder port. It was faring no better that it had been before, the skin looking grey and swollen where it met metal. The metal itself was like ice to touch. Roy tried to get Ed up.

"Come on, it's not much further," he said, the calm tone marred by the underlying concern that rang through his voice. Ed groaned as Roy forced him back up into a sitting position, his hand shooting to his chest reflexively.

"Ed?" Roy reached to lift his shirt, to see what was paining him.

"Ches' hurts," he murmured. The bruising on Ed's chest was much more extensive than Roy had first noticed, darkest over where his ribs were broken. Ed shook his head sluggishly.

"It's f-fine," he mumbled, trying to get up, "J-just hard t-to take deep br-breaths," Roy offered his arm for support again, and Al helped by pulling Ed's limp arm over Roy's shoulders.

"Wh-where are we g-going?" Ed panted in between shivers and too shallow breaths. Roy shot him a shrewd, concerned glance. His confusion was getting worse.

"The Rockbell house, to get you fixed up, remember?" Ed swayed.

"R-right..." He pushed himself away from Roy, staggering over to the tree a few feet away. Leaning heavily against it, he turned back to face him and Al.

"Let – Let me just catch m-my breath f-for a second," he said, puffs of air escaping his lungs between words. He leaned there for a couple of minutes, trembling. The kid looked like hell, Roy surmised mentally. His hair was hanging limply half out of its ponytail, framing his face. His skin was so pale that it looked grey, and his lips were beginning to look the wrong colour.

"I don't want to rush you, or anything, but I think you've been out here long enough, Ed." Roy moved towards him. Ed's head bobbed upwards feebly. His eyes looked unfocussed.

"Wh-where are we g-going?" he rasped. Dread twisted, for what felt like the millionth time that day, in Roy's gut.

"The Rockb- Shit!" Roy's answer was cut off by his curse as Ed's eyes rolled up and he collapsed bonelessly forward, well and truly unconscious this time, and he darted forward, catching him. Al wailed behind him, moving to help him lower his limp brother to the floor. Numbly, Roy checked Ed's pulse, relieved to find it still there.

"We have to get him back now, General!" Al said, voice trembling. They tried lifting him in the same manner as before, putting his arm over Roy's shoulder, but without Ed's cooperation, they couldn't keep him upright, and without his other arm attached, Al couldn't get enough grip to support his other side. Roy made a snap decision.

"I'm going to have to carry him," he announced, sliding one arm beneath Ed's legs, and the other behind his back. Even if he _had_ grown to be taller than Winry, Ed was still a good head shorter than Roy, and with all the weight he seemed to have lost over the last few weeks added to the fact he was missing half his automail, Roy managed to lift him fairly easily. Al scuttled backwards, as Roy rose to his feet, Ed unprotesting and silent in his arms, his head lolling to one side.

"Let's go." He said, breaking into a jog, moving as fast as he could without jostling the unconscious teenager in his arms.

Winry and Pinako had just finished their preparations when they heard the front door burst open, Al calling for them. Winry hurried out into the hall to find Roy carrying a pale and shivering Edward over the threshold, with Al flapping around at this side.

"What happened?" she gasped, moving quickly to Roy's side.

"He just passed out again," He grimaced. "His pulse is still a little fast, and he's still freezing – where shall I put him?" Winry gestured towards Ed's old room.

"Through here; we've set up another saline drip, but this time warmed it slightly, so that the fluids entering his body will help to raise his temperature." Roy nodded, following her through to the bed.

"Granny said we have to warm him up slowly, though. If we do it too fast it will shock his system."

He set Ed down gently on the bed, and Winry quickly moved to cover him with a blanket before hoisting herself up onto the bed to lie next to Ed. Roy raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing?" Winry's cheeks flushed darkly.

"B-Body heat! Well, Ed doesn't have a fire in his room..." She looked defiantly up at Roy. "Granny told me to!" Roy raised his hands.

"No, I didn't mean any offence – it's a good idea." He smiled. Quietly, Al climbed up onto the other side of Ed and squeezed himself into the bed too. Winry smiled at Al, grateful to him for making the situation a little less awkward, but slightly annoyed that she didn't get to do this by herself. Winry blushed even deeper upon realising this, but pushed the thought from her head, instead choosing to press herself against Ed's freezing skin. She winced as the icy automail of his leg burned against her skin, but stayed huddled close to his body. This was the least she could do for him.

"Al, try to get the automail port on his shoulder warmed up first. Once the metal on his body is warm, we can start the saline drip." Al nodded and wriggled upwards to press his chest to his brother's shoulder.

Roy sank into a nearby chair, a sigh on his lips.

"Ahh. I knew Ed was a bad luck magnet, but this is just ridiculous," He laughed quietly.

Silence descended upon the room, settling over the occupants heavily, drawing drowsiness in its wake.

Roy shook himself. As tired as he was, he couldn't afford to fall asleep yet. There were still things he had to take care of. A sudden thought occurred to him.

"Where's Maes, anyway?" he asked, pulling himself out of the slouch he had sunk into.

"Right here," a voice sounded from behind the door, and Hughes came into view, armed with a tray full of mugs. "Thought you could all use something warm to drink."

"Ah, Maes, you're a mind-reader," Roy took a mug of tea from the tray, and settled back into his chair. After setting the tray on the table near Al and Winry, Hughes pulled up a chair near to Roy's.

"Miss Rockbell filled me in on the situation." He murmured. "How's he at the moment?"

"He's getting warmer – we'll put the saline drip in soon," Winry replied quietly from the bed. Hughes nodded, turning to Roy.

"Hawkeye called again. She's taking care of everything at Central, just like you asked. There doesn't seem to be any problems so far. She says that you've got a mountain of paperwork, though." He smiled wryly as Roy groaned.

"What do you think she'll do if I just burn it when I get back?" Roy moaned, rubbing his fingers together. Hughes laughed.

"Probably shoot you. But nowhere vital, mind. She'll make sure you're still able to re-do it all."

Roy chuckled darkly, as Pinako bustled into the room.

"It's getting late; how's Edward doing?" She asked. No reply came from either Winry or Al. Pinako made a noise of irritation and moved over to the bed.

"Ha, well it seems that I'll just have to put the IV in myself," she said softly, amusement clear in her voice. Frowning, Roy rose from his chair to see what she meant, Hughes right behind him.

Both Winry and Al were sleeping peacefully, curled protectively around Edward, who appeared to have stopped shivering, and had a little colour returning to his face. He smirked as he noticed that Winry was pressed especially close to Ed's body. That would be a funny situation to witness when they both awoke in the morning. Pinako reached around Winry and set about inserting the needle into Ed's arm, before backing off and motioning to the two men to follow.

"They'll be fine sleeping there tonight. At least they'll all be warm, and Ed will have someone with him all night." She closed the door gently behind them, and bid other two goodnight, making her way back to her own room.

Roy and Hughes slowly made their way to the kitchen. Roy stretched his back out as he walked.

"Ugh, even if he's lost weight since he's been back, the kid's still pretty heavy." He grumbled. Hughes grinned.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were getting old, Roy." Roy scowled.

"Hey, I'm still a good year younger than you – you old man. At least I don't have kids yet." He argued good naturedly.

"Ha! That's a pretty weak come back, Roy. Your lack of children says more about your personality than your age." Roy snorted.

"Yeah, well, I've got my hands full with my subordinates at the moment. Wait until they stop trying to get themselves killed; maybe then you'll see some real children." Hughes rolled his eyes.

"Always with the excuses..." They made their way over to the large wooden table in the kitchen. Roy's expression sobered.

"In all seriousness, though, we're going to have to have a talk with Edward when he wakes up – I think he's remembered quite a bit more than he's letting on." Hughes frowned.

"How so?" Roy motioned for him to sit down opposite him. He sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face before raising his eyes to Hughes'.

"When we found him, in the graveyard, he was unconscious, right?" Hughes nodded; he'd been there when Winry had relayed what had happened to her Grandmother.

"Well, when I managed to wake him up, he was almost delusional; he didn't seem to know where he was, and some of the stuff he was spouting... I don't know Maes. Something about his report and I swear I heard him mention chimeras. He thought I was someone else at first – someone named 'Kain' or 'Kine' I think." Roy sighed. Hughes took his glasses off, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Whatever it is, it can wait until morning. I don't know about you, but I'm beat, and I wasn't the one running around outside for three hours." He stood up, making his way towards the darkened hall.

"Don't stay up all night thinking about this, Roy." He advised, before disappearing through the door.

"Yeah..." Roy murmured, more to himself to anyone else. He leaned back in his chair, tilting his head up to stare up at the blank, expressionless ceiling, hoping that his mind – filled with heavy and cumbersome thoughts – would take inspiration from it. No such luck.

He exhaled noisily. Sleep was not going to come easily tonight.

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**A/N:**** Oookay~ So that's another chapter uploaded! Bleegh. FF keeps killing my formatting, and I'm not clever enough to work out how to fix it... T^T**

**Ugh, this one was kind of a rush job – especially the ending; my brother was pestering me to come and play 'Halo: Reach' with him, and I wanted to finish this chapter first, so I had to speed through a couple of bits! So sorry if you can really tell – I hope this chapter isn't too bad.**

**Again, sorry for how long this is taking me – life has been veeeery hectic of late; I'm off to Uni in a week, and I've had a lot to sort out over the past couple of months. What can I say? To voice a cliché: Life's a bitch, haha.**

**Ah, before I forget, anything medical or scientific in there was purely based on my own (not very extensive) knowledge, so if anyone can see any glaring mistakes or anything really wrong, please don't hesitate to point it out – constructive criticism of any kind is mucho welcome.**

**As I've said before, I'm going to re-write the entire thing once it's done, and re-upload it, just so that I can have my mind at rest. **

**Anyway, I'm going to try very hard to get another chapter up before I move out next Friday, but it will be chaotic here, so no promises! ^^'**

**If anyone out there is still reading, then thank-you for sticking with my craptastic writing and my lousy update skills! Please show some love with a little review, if you can – they make me ridiculously happy! :D**

**Thank-youuu~**


	13. Chapter 13

**Wheee, Update! Enjoy! :3**

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Warmth. That was the first thing he could identify. It was all around him, pressing gently from each direction, on each sense. If it had been anything else, he would have been panicked and terrified, but this warmth felt so...right. He could feel the light dusting of sunlight across his exposed skin, and something heavier, more solid, on either side of him, anchoring him – he was grateful to this heavy warmth; without it, he feared he would just drift away.

As he lay there, in his indolent half-lucidity, he began to realise that – presently – this warmth was all he knew. He _knew_ that somewhere there was a name, a person, to accompany this consciousness that only barely consumed him, but - for now - it eluded him.

He wondered idly whether he too would just float away if this warmth left him.

Slowly, other things began to filter through to him; the low, baritone murmuring breezing in from somewhere nearby, a trembling clinking noise that came from equally far off.

And then there was the soft, lilting sound of breathing – that one was closest.

He wanted to open his eyes, to endeavour to piece together his disjointed state of awareness, and locate the person that accompanied the calm, even breathing that felt so close, but there was a lethargy that cocooned him - just as firmly as the warmth - that prevented him from doing so.

And so, he continued to do no more than just _be_, nameless and quietened by the security born from warmth and exhaustion, his breathing in perfect time with the other set of lungs nearby.

He remained like this for what felt like the longest time, feeling out into his surroundings with as many senses as the lethargy would allow, until a shifting sensation next to him roused him from his trance.

He was, all of a sudden, made aware of an abrupt feeling of loss; the warmth either side of him unexpectedly lessened, leaving only one anchoring him to reality. Panic began to flood his mind. What if the other decided to leave too? Would he just cease to be? Become a nameless, formless entity, destined to be forever cold and alone? He felt his breathing pace increase, but struggle as he might, he couldn't manage to open his eyes – for he knew now that he did indeed _have_ eyes, though he still could not remember his name – or move himself in any way.

He was so absorbed in his dread that he barely even registered the sound of a door opening nearby, and was only distracted from his panicked state by the distinctly male voice that then filled the room, despite the owner's attempts to lower the tone.

"He's still asleep then?" the voice was accompanied by a set of footsteps.

"Mm. Not sure if he's woken or not since we last checked in on him. Where's Alphonse?" another voice responded to the first.

"In the kitchen, making everyone breakfast. He's a good kid." There was silence for a few moments, and then,

"Don't make that face, Roy. Ed's a tough one; he'll pull through all this."

Ed.

His name.

He was Edward. Edward Elric. Fullmetal Alchemist.

Inexplicably, the mere knowledge of his name seemed to give him a new found strength, and this time, when he willed his fingers to move, his eyelids to twitch, they did.

"Maes! I think he's waking up!" Mustang's voice had taken on a hopeful edge.

"What?"

"He's moving, look!" Ed tried to tune out the voices, concentrating only on opening his eyes, or even just moving. His hand jerked fitfully and he managed to let out an unintentional moan of frustration; why was he so weak? And Mustang's stupid voice was getting too loud to ignore.

"Edward? Can you hear me?" Ed frowned. Of course he could hear him – the whole house could probably hear him by now!

Finally, after what seemed like an age, he managed to open his eyes. And then wished he hadn't.

Mustang's face was right in front of his, peering at him as though he were some sort of injured animal.

"Gah!" Ed mumbled screwing his eyes shut again. "I wish I was still unconscious. No one wants to wake up to _that_, Mustang!" Ed imagined Mustang was rolling his eyes.

"Oh ha ha, Ed. It's good to see your sense of humour is still intact. Clearly, while we were all worrying ourselves into an early grave, you were working on the speed of your wit." Opening his eyes again, Ed saw that the disapproval on Mustang's face was vastly overshadowed by relief.

"Nope. Sorry to break this to you, but I'm actually just that quick. Genius, remember?" Roy shook his head, trying to suppress a smile. Ed frowned groggily.

"Wait, how long was I out this time?" he asked hoarsely, his voice gritty from lack of use. Hughes appraised him critically from the corner.

"Just one night. Well, some of the day too, if you want to be precise. How much do you remember, Ed?"

Ed grimaced, trying to think back.

"Uhh..." He dredged up his memories of the past few days, as Roy and Hughes watched him with almost comically identical expressions of concern.

"I remember going out for a walk, after Winry changed my bandages. I went to the graveyard and..." he stopped. "That's it. That's the last thing I can remember." Ed sighed. Although it made him feel guilty, he neglected to tell the two men of the memories he had begun to regain of when he had been missing. He wasn't entirely sure why, but he wanted to keep them to himself, until he could begin to make some sense of them, and more had come back. "Ugh. This whole 'having no memory of various events' is getting tiring." He murmured. He tried to reach up and rub his face with his hand, but to his surprise found it pinned. He turned his head to the side.

"Ah! W-Winry?" Ed's face immediately flushed as he took in the sight of his oldest friend pressed up close to his body, fast asleep with his flesh arm around her. He gaped up at Roy and Hughes, who were both suppressing fits of childish laughter.

"Ha! I knew it would be worth hanging around to see this!" Roy snickered. "I'm surprised it actually took you this long to notice, Ed. You can be quite oblivious sometimes, for a 'genius'."

Ed scowled, his face still entertainingly red.

"Yes, yes. We're all very amused by my awkward situations. Now, which one of you would care to tell me why Winry is sleeping in my bed?" He hissed, trying not to wake her. Roy's expression sobered.

"When you didn't come back from your walk, we went looking for you. You'd been gone for hours, and it was starting to get dark." Roy explained. "We found you passed out in front of your mother's gravestone. You were hypothermic."

Ed closed his eyes briefly, a troubled frown creasing his brow.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. Roy ran a hand through his hair, worried by yet another uncharacteristic apology from Edward.

"No, it's -" Roy began before cutting himself off. Ed appeared to be lost in thought again, barely listening. Roy cleared his throat to catch his attention, choosing to ignore the young man's atypical reaction and continue with his explanation.

"We managed to wake you up, but you were disorientated and not very responsive. After we got you back, I believe Miss. Rockbell's grandmother suggested the sharing of body heat to be an effective way of raising your temperature steadily before putting the I.V in." At this comment Ed glanced at his arm, looking slightly ill. He was relieved to see that someone had removed the I.V already. Hughes smiled a little at his reaction. "She and Al fell asleep in your bed. They were both very worried." Roy finished. Though still a little flushed, Ed's features softened and he looked somewhat less embarrassed.

"Al was here?" He recalled the feeling of warmth disappearing from one side shortly after he woke, realising that this must have been Al getting up. "Where is he now?"

"In the kitchen," Hughes supplied. "I'm surprised one of you didn't wake up earlier; it can't have been comfortable with three of you crammed in there." He mused. Roy smirked.

"Yes, especially with how close Miss. Rockbell is pressed to you -" Roy yelped as Hughes elbowed him in the ribs, and scowled at him reproachfully. Ed's face heated again, and he made a move to slide out of bed.

"U-uh, well..." he lowered his feet to the floor, almost – for once – lost for words. "W-what are you two doing standing over me while I sleep anyway? I expect it from the Lieutenant Colonel over there, but you've got no excuse, you creepy old man!" He spluttered at Roy, desperate for a distraction from his current situation. Not that he found it... unpleasant waking up next to Winry – far from it, in fact. But that didn't mean it wasn't embarrassing to have Hughes and Mustang parading around his bedroom with moronic, smug grins on their faces!

He quickly pushed himself off from the bed only to find his legs didn't want to support him, crumpling beneath him almost immediately. Roy moved forward swiftly to grab him, in order to prevent him from crashing to the floor. Ed's head was spinning from standing (or rather failing to stand) up so fast.

"Ugh," he at clutched Roy's arm for a moment, battling the faint feeling and the vague nausea.

"Are you alright?" Roy asked, concern layered into his voice. Ed staggered away from him to lean against the dresser. He hated feeling so weak! His muscles felt rubbery and it was taking him a ridiculous amount of energy just to remain upright.

"I'm fine," he murmured faintly. "just been lying around for too long."

"You should take it easy, Ed." Hughes said. "You were in a pretty bad way last night – it's only natural that your body will be fragile." Ed swallowed, and took in a steady, deep breath of air.

"I'm ok," he said, more strongly this time. He looked up to meet anxious and sceptical gazes of the other two. "No, Really. I could definitely do with something to drink though – you said Al was in the kitchen?" Roy nodded.

"He's making breakfast, I believe." Ed straightened up.

"Perfect. I'm starving." He lied. In truth, he still felt awful. His whole body ached, as did his head, and he felt thoroughly sick. Food was currently the last thing on his mind, but a hot drink and warm kitchen to sit down in sounded very appealing right now. He didn't know how long he could stay standing for – it was making him feel horrendous. Plus he didn't want to wake Winry; another (discreet) look at her sleeping face told him that the rest she was currently enjoying was well needed. She was sporting dark shadows beneath her eyes to rival Ed's. He realised with a guilty surge that she too had been suffering for Ed's recent activities; and the guilt was twofold – in addition to the worry and stress his current situation was causing her, and the fact that she had been losing sleep over it, he was doubly guilt ridden by the fact it had taken him this long to comprehend the toll it was taking on her.

He started a slow, limping walk towards the door. He could feel that the automail's damage was worsening with each moment of use whilst in the state it was. The limp was more pronounced now, and he could feel something not right with the way it was moving; a jolt in the usually smooth sliding of the pistons when he brought his foot forward to walk, a odd, but thankfully barely audible grinding squeak when the knee bent and general delayed reactions all over the prosthetic. Normally, despite the abuse he would have gotten from Winry, he would have asked her to take a look at it by now, but with all she'd had to deal with recently he felt it could wait. After all, she'd already had to rebuild one piece of automail for him, and he could still walk...kind of.

As they made their way to the kitchen, Hughes piped up.

"Hey wait a minute! Why can you be unsurprised to find me watching you sleep – which I wasn't doing, I'd like to clarify – and why don't you expect it from Roy? He's the king of weird tendencies!" Roy frowned.

"And I am _not_ an 'old man'! I'm only barely out of my twenties!" he interjected. Ed laughed.

"I find it interesting that you deny being old, but fail to argue with me about the 'creepy' part of that comment." Roy shrugged.

"Well, you've got to pick your battles,"

Hughes chuckled, making Al look up as they all entered the kitchen. He rushed over placing both of his hands on his brother's shoulders.

"Brother! How are you feeling? Should you be up yet? Where's Winry? Do you-" Ed laughed, waving a hand to quiet Al down.

"You always ask too many questions at once Al. I'm ok, just a bit tired. I felt like moving around and seeing what sort of food you were whipping up in here, I've spent way too much time in bed recently. Winry's still asleep – she needs the rest." He ducked out from under Al's grasp in order to move towards the stove and boil the kettle. To his dismay the action, as small as it was, was draining and caused another bout of dizziness, but he made it to the kettle relatively steadily, and began to busy himself making tea. Al hovered around him anxiously, but made no further inquires on his health.

Roy and Maes were seated at the table, murmuring between themselves in their low voices. When Ed sat himself down opposite them, they abruptly ceased their conversation, causing Ed to raise an eyebrow, but he was so exhausted – both mentally and physically – that he couldn't be bothered to quiz them on their suspicious behaviour. Instead he chose to merely sip his tea and sink into the cushions of the chair, ignoring the odd glances they kept shooting him.

After a short while, Pinako clattering into the kitchen with an armful of wires and metal caught everyone's attention.

"Ah, Edward, you're awake. How are you feeling?" She peered through here glasses at him, eyes flicking briefly over the other occupants of the room. Ed grimaced.

"You know, kind of like I've been sleeping in a graveyard." Al shot Ed a reproachful look.

"Hm. Well, you can't be feeling too bad if you're ready to joke about it," Pinako grunted, a twinkle of amusement in her eyes. "As my granddaughter is still sleeping, I'll be checking your injuries for you; I'll wager those bandages are due for a change by now." Ed wrinkled his nose.

"Aww, do we have to do it now Granny? I just woke up, and I have tea..." he trailed off hopefully, but she shook her head sternly.

"Come now, no time like the present. We can do it in here, if you'd prefer it, just sit on the stool over there." She raised her voice slightly as her head disappeared into the cupboard where they kept the medical supplies. Ed sighed and shifted over to the stool by one of the many Rockbell workbenches, slipping his shirt off his shoulders.

His hair, loose from its usual ponytail, tickled the bare skin of his back, so he swept it over one shoulder onto his chest. The bandages on his chest seemed much lighter that before, and he could see some bloodstains over where the burn was. Due to the thinner bandaging, more of his skin was exposed. Ed frowned. There were a lot of scars on his torso that he didn't remember, and faded bruising that looked like it had been inflicted before his return to Risembool. He twisted in an attempt to peer at his back, but the heavy injuries to his body protested, especially the burned gash on his stomach. The skin stretched, pulling agonizingly as he turned and Ed hissed viciously against the pain. Roy looked up at the noise.

"Ed, are you –" he stopped mid sentence, staring at the young man's uncovered back before moving over to stand behind him, paling. Ed jumped as Roy touched his skin lightly. Despite the pressure only being gentle, ache still flared up where the older man was examining.

"General, what are you doing? Trying to up your creepiness points?" he asked, turning more carefully this time to fix Roy with a bemused look. He frowned at Roy's expression. "What? What's wrong?" Roy pursed his lips.

"Your back – it's covered in bruises! And so many scars..." he pushed on Ed's shoulder gently, turning him so he could get a better look. "Fullmetal, these don't look old. They look as though you got them sometime before you re-appeared. The bruises are fading, but some look like they were quite nasty – they would had to have been if they've lasted this long." Ed chewed his lip, furrowing his brow.

"Crap, they're on my back too?" He turned to face Roy, pulling his bandages about to uncover more of the bruises and scars that had been hidden before. "I know I had a lot of scars from the travels Al and I went on, but these definitely aren't from then. I didn't have half of these before, and they still look pink, not white like the older ones. These are barely healed over." He rubbed his hand across his face. "I guess no-one noticed them over the other more pressing injuries," he speculated. Roy sighed, unease clouding his features.

"I know I said this before, but what the hell happened to you over your month spent missing?" he asked, not really expecting an answer. Ed dropped his head a little.

"You're asking me? I'd like to know just as much as all of you." He moaned. He knew he had regained some of his memories –if indeed that was what they were, and not just delusional dreams - but the vast majority of them were still a blank and he couldn't yet recall having any of the injuries inflicted upon him that his body seemed to display. Al came over, abandoning his breakfast to examine his brother's battered body.

"Oh Brother..." he breathed, his gentle eyes cataloguing the various injuries scattered across Ed's back and torso. Ed tilted his head up to face Al.

"Hey, it's ok. I'm back now, after all, and it's not like these won't heal. I'm not really bothered by a few extra scars." He smiled reassuringly at his brother. Al nodded, but the look of worry and upset still remained, marring his young face. Pinako bustled over, distracting them all from their musings over the state of Edward's health. She made no comment on the injuries they had been discussing, and gave no reaction to seeing them save the pursing of her lips. Edward was grateful for this; he could always count on Granny not to make too big a deal over things unless the situation called for it. She always seemed to know when he didn't want to have a fuss made over him.

"All right, everyone back up a little. Let me get in there to change Edward's bandages." The small woman waved back Roy and Al and set to work unravelling the thin bandages that criss-crossed over Ed's chest. This time, the gauze was only partially stuck to the wound, and peeled off with relative ease, thought it still hurt like hell. He gritted his teeth, willing himself to keep his composure until she was done. Al watched his brother, his features still heavy with anxiety. He never could fool Al when he was in pain. Still, it was short lived, as soon Pinako had managed to remove all of the bandages, leaving the vicious wound on his torso exposed. Ed sucked in a sharp breath at the sight of it. Though not as raw as the last time he'd seen it, the burned-over gash was a mess. The skin was weeping, and bleeding in places, and the burn itself looked just about as painful as it got. Al and Roy were joined by Maes – who had not yet seen the extent of Ed's injuries firsthand - as they watched grimly. Pinako sucked in a breath sharply through her teeth.

"Looks like that one's going to pain you for some time, shorty." She murmured, gently wiping around the wound, trying to clean it without causing him too much suffering. Ed scowled.

"Who're you calling short, you microscopic old hag?" he snapped, jerking around to glare at her. Clearly he hadn't learned from that last time he'd tried this particular movement, a gasp of pain forced from his lips as he agonisingly strained the angry wound on his torso. Pinako grasped him firmly by the shoulders.

"Keep still, you foolish boy. You're going to tear that thing right back open!" Breathless from the pain radiating from his abused injuries, Ed found himself unable to piece together a comeback, so instead just let the old woman push him back carefully and begin to re-bind his body. His head was beginning to ache unbearably alongside his muscles. As Hughes had highlighted earlier, he shouldn't really have been surprised by how utterly crap he felt, given what he'd been putting his body through recently, but having the luxury of expecting the pain he was feeling didn't make it any less intense.

Once he had regained his composure, he straightened back to his original position in order to allow Pinako better access to his torso as she worked on getting the tension in the bandaging right. He looked down at his chest, morosely examining one of the barely healed scars. What was most frustrating wasn't the fact he was covered in new scars, it was that he couldn't remember how he'd... gotten them? A sudden flash of memory hit him, and he jolted upright – this time ignoring the spike of pain and letting the alarmed muttering at his reaction become merely background noise in favour of concentrating on his revelation. His dreams, or rather _memories,_ from the graveyard floated to the forefront of his mind – he remembered surprise, _'a pair of arms hooking underneath his own, holding him fast and lifting his feet from the ground.'_

He remembered pain as '_claws pierced his shoulders.' _His eyes glazed over as he retreated deeper into his memories, oblivious to the concern of the others in the room.

He remembered alarm as those same claws '_pressed deeper into the backs of his shoulders, and Ed could feel warm liquid seeping into his shirt, spreading darkly and alarmingly quickly across his chest.'_ If those memories had been the real thing, then surely the marks from those claws would still remain?

Abruptly, Ed was startled from his musings by someone shaking him firmly. He blinked and jumped again as Roy's face filled his field of vision –the older man was knelt in front of him, hands on either shoulder, barely masked worry creasing his features.

"Gah!" he flinched backwards, startled, causing him to lose his balance on the stool. His arm wind milled comically, before he toppled over completely, crashing to the floor. Clearly only having one limb attached to his torso wasn't doing wonders for his agility.

"Uuu..." Ed curled in on himself, cringing at the fresh pain his exertion had caused.

"What the hell, Mustang!" He glared upwards at the surprised looking General. "That's the second time today I've opened my eyes to find your stupid face about an inch away from mine! I mean, honestly, I'm starting to wonder if it's your mission in life to be considered as creepy as possible! And -"

"Brother!" Ed's rant was cut off by Alphonse's indignant but somewhat worried sounding interjection. "Calm down! The General was just trying check if you were OK!"

"What?" Ed forgot his irritation, his expression turning instead to confusion. "I'm fine! Well, as fine as I was a few seconds ago, anyway." He looked up at the various faces around him, noting the looks of doubt and apprehension that were being aimed his way. "What? Why are you all looking at me like that?"

Hughes cleared his throat.

"Are you sure you're alright kiddo? You've been sat there spacing out for a good few minutes now."

Al nodded.

"Yeah, it was kind of weird Ed; your eyes glazed over and everything." He said softly.

Roy snorted, muttering, "And you call _me_ creepy," earning an elbow in the ribs from Hughes. He spluttered, glaring at his friend before offering a hand out to the young man on the floor.

"What were you thinking so hard about anyway? It's a bit out of character for you, isn't it?" he jibed, trying to keep the mood light. Ed ignored Roy's dig, his eyes widening .

"Oh yeah!" He swept his hair off his back once more turning his back to his brother. "Al, check the back of my shoulders would you? Are there any marks on them, close to the top?" Al raised an eyebrow, but obliged anyway, stepping closer to Ed to get a better look.

Al sucked a breath in between his teeth.

"Ed, what are these?" Ed tossed his head impatiently.

"_I_ don't know Al, I can't see them!" he sighed. "Well, what's there?"

Al tutted at his brother's edgy remark, but carried on examining him all the same.

"You've got some weird, new-looking scars on your flesh shoulder – kind of like puncture marks in a curved line. There's about five of them, evenly spaced. They look like they were pretty deep. But that's not it though," he hesitated. Ed craned his neck to look at his younger brother. He looked troubled.

"It's your other shoulder. The metal, in the same place as on your flesh shoulder, it looks like... well, it looks like something cut into that too. The marks are identical to the ones on your left shoulder, but they're gouged into the metal!"

Ed flipped his hair back over his shoulder and sat back down on the stool, chewing his lip. Now he knew for certain that his memories were just that – memories, not just dreams conjured from his turbulent state of mind; there was no way those marks could be a coincidence and they just proved what he'd known all along. The month he'd spent doing God-knows-what, the month that was absent from his own mind - it was returning to him. Kine, the girl, even the chimeras, they were all real! He just needed to remember the end of the sick little story his month had become, playing out inside his head. He needed to know what had happened in that cave, where Kine was now and, most importantly, whether or not he needed to go back there.

After a few seconds of silence, Roy waved a hand in the air.

"So, uh, care to tell us what that was about, Fullmetal?" Ed sighed. He hadn't wanted to talk to anyone properly about what he had remembered so far because he hadn't been sure if they _were_ memories, but even now that he was, he was reluctant. He had wanted to remember everything alone first – make sense of what he was piecing together before he told the others, but he could see now that keeping all this to himself was rapidly becoming a smaller option. It would be difficult to explain away his strange actions, especially as they had gotten stranger as of late. Making a snap decision, he rose to his feet and took a step forward, ignoring the tremor in his automail leg as he did so. The three adults and Al exchanged glances, clearly fearing for the young alchemist's sanity.

"Right, just a second..." Ed strode purposefully towards the hallway, moving as smoothly and quickly as his injuries and damaged automail would allow him to. Behind him Al's cry of;

"Brother, what are you doing?" mingled with Roy's shout of;

"Fullmetal, Where the hell do you think you're going?" to create an amusing sound of protest.

"Just wait there a minute," he called over his shoulder, "I just need to get something."

Ed made his way into the bedroom where Winry was still sleeping soundly and limped over to the bed. He hated to wake her when she looked so peaceful, but it was a necessary crime.

"Win, wake up" he said loudly, shaking her. She screwed up her face, making a sort of mewling sound, but did not wake. Smirking, Ed leant his face closer to hers and blew softly into her ear – a technique that had never failed to wake her up during their childhood, and usually presented amusing results... especially when he had practiced it during school as she slept behind her books on her desk. He stepped backward just in time to avoid behind smashed in the face by Winry's forehead as she sat bolt upright.

"Yaaah!" she gasped looking around her in bleary-eyed surprise. "Whaa?" Her confused expression changed rapidly to one of murderous annoyance as her gaze fell on Ed, who was merely stood there enjoying her reaction with an obnoxious smile on his face.

"Edward Elric, how many times have I told you to quit waking me up with that dumb trick of yours?" she yelled with an impulse borne from years of being awoken by this method, each time by the same person. Her anger, however, was short lived and she soon slipped back into confusion once more.

"Wait, what time is it? What's going on?" Ed's smile lessened slightly as he remembered what he'd come in here to wake her up for.

"Oh, right. Come with me. I need to explain something to the others that's going to involve me going into something I'd rather tell you all together. I think you should all be there, plus I'm too lazy to explain it more than once." He tugged at her wrist lightly, and she automatically slid her feet to the floor as he guided her off the bed. Winry looked up into his eyes. They were not the eyes of someone who wanted to tell anybody anything; he looked reluctant and troubled.

"E-Ed?" Winry's voice caught slightly, "You're scaring me. What's this about?"

Edward smiled encouragingly and slipped his hand into hers, leading her towards the kitchen. Winry blushed.

"Don't worry, I just want to talk to you all at the same time."

Everyone in the kitchen was still stood pretty much where he had left them (except for Al, who had been on the verge of going to find his brother as he re-entered the room) when he returned towing a thoroughly confused, and still sleepy, Winry behind him. Roy raised an eyebrow.

"I'm going to assume that when you said 'I just need to get something'," he air quoted Ed's previous statement, "this was the 'something' you were referring to?"

Winry whacked Ed on the back of his head.

"Hey what was that for?" he whined. Winry scowled.

"Don't refer to me as a 'something'!" she huffed indignantly. Ed pouted, rubbing his head. Al threw his hands up in the air.

"Look, as amusing as all this is, is someone going to explain what's going on here or not?" he cried out in exasperation. Winry shrugged.

"Don't look at me I'm just as clueless as you lot." She jerked a thumb at Ed. "He just woke me up and dragged me in here, muttering nonsense about explaining himself." Ed rolled his eyes.

"Alright, Alright!" He made his way over to the table, perching himself on the edge and closing his eyes briefly to gather his thoughts. Five sets of eyes fixed themselves upon him in silent expectance.

"I think," he said slowly, flicking his gaze over each perplexed face,

"It's time I told you all the truth about how much I've actually remembered."

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**Yes, yes. I'm aware of my horribly clichéd habit of leaving things with a cliff-hanger, haha. I apologise for corny dramatic devices! X3**

**Anyway, there is another, long-overdue and slightly too short update for you all! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, even if it wasn't massively eventful! Ah, sorry for any typos, by the way! I do proof read, I just always seem to miss something! :p**

**Oh! I mentioned before that I was rewriting the earlier chapters - well, so far I have rewritten the first and second chapter, making the quality of writing (hopefully, haha) match the newest as I go. Once I have caught up with the current chapter, I will replace all of the old chapters with the new rewritten ones. The plot will remain essentially the same, but the writing will just be better. But yeah, I haven uploaded them yet; I will do that when they are all rewritten! :)  
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**Again, I apologise for how long it's been since my last update – I hope there are still people reading out there! :) **

**I actually have a better idea of where I'm going with this now, so (ahh, I know I always say this, but bear with me!) hopefully I'll be updating again quite soon! I'll put update info on my FF profile, at the bottom, so if there's a date there I'll try to stick to it! ^^**

**Anywho, the next chapter is likely to be more eventful, and hopefully a bit longer too, so I hope that's something to look forward to! (Guh, I always end up chattering on for too long in these weird little after-chapter notes!)**

**Ah, just before I go; I read every single review I receive, no matter how short or long, and I cherish and take each one to heart, so thank you very much to all those that have reviewed, whether it's just been once or you're a regular to my (slowly updated – eerk! Thanks for the dedication in reading this you guys!) fic! **

**Criticism, love and support are all welcomed! If you liked it, let me know! I love reading what you all think of my writing, be it bad or good! Heehee, I need to know what to improve on! **

**Thanks again for reading guys! I'll be back soon with a new chapter! (and sorry to ramble so much at the end each time!) ^^'**


	14. Chapter 14

**Sooo. I updated. I know, rare right? (BUT NOT ANYMORE I PROMISE! I WILL BE MORE AWESOME IN THE FUTURE! PLEASE LOOOOVEEE MEEEEEE!) But here you go anyway! If anyone is still reading this thing… Weh.**

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Setting down his third cup of coffee, Ed looked around the silent room, his sheepish eyes meeting in turn with the other occupants' shaken, troubled gazes. He hadn't really been sure what to expect when he sat down to come clean about what he knew, but the total silence throughout his story, and now afterwards, was not it. He drummed his fingers nervously on the table, waiting for someone to break the mounting tension. Surprisingly, it turned out to be Hughes, not Winry, who spoke first. He had been expecting an almost immediate wrench to the skull after he'd finished, for withholding such important information.

"...So you really did get kidnapped, then?" He asked, probably not really expecting an answer. Ed grimaced.

"I suppose, in a manner of speaking." He mumbled. Roy shifted in his chair.

"Actually, it seems to me Fullmetal pretty much held out his wrists and _asked_ to be tied up. What were you thinking, going into that place unaccompanied with a potentially dangerous individual? Come on Edward, I know you pretend that you don't pay any attention in the protocol seminars at Central, but even you must have thought it was fishy!" He berated. Edward pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger.

"I don't know, alright?" He snapped. "He must have done his research on me. He – he _knew_ things. He knew how to play on my weaknesses, drop names that would affect my clarity of thought. I don't fully understand myself why I followed him. Hell, I don't even fully remember what happened in there, or how I escaped! For all I know, Kine could still be there, carrying out whatever the hell depraved experiment he was planning whilst I was there! He could-" Breathing heavily, Ed bit the end of his sentence off, not wanting to voice one of the major concerns that had been plaguing him. It was all for naught, though. As usual, his brother was annoyingly in tune with his though process.

"He could be on his way to track you down, and bring you back to finish what he started? That's what you were thinking, right Brother?" Al said softly. The room fell back into a frigid, troubled silence. Ed bit his lip, a pained expression crossing his features, and looked away.

He hadn't even wanted to think it at first, but if he was right... If the fears that Al had voiced were a reality, then he had put everyone here at risk by returning. He had to hope that he was wrong, that he would have thought of this before escaping, and that the reason he had arrived so beaten up was because he had fought with, and put a stop to, Kine.

The problem was he just couldn't be sure. The only way to know for sure would be to...

Mustang's voice roused him from his thoughts.

"Well, Alphonse, if that is indeed the case, then we'll have to deal with it when the problem actually presents itself. Ed's not going to have to face this lunatic alone again." Ed's head jerked up, his eyes finding Mustang's in surprise. He was half touched by the man's support and half irritated by his casual approach to the potential danger. The frown forming across his face was tinged with anguish.

"I can't let you all get dragged into my mess, especially one this dangerous!" he said tiredly.

The words were barely out of his mouth before Winry abruptly pushed her chair back with a loud scrape. Her head was down and Ed couldn't see her face as she marched swiftly and silently from the room.

"Winry!" he rose as quickly as he could with his injuries and started after her. She was only a few feet ahead of him, towards the other end of the hallway.

"Winry? Winry would you wait a second?" he grabbed her wrist, tugging her back, and in a flash her free hand swung around to slap him fiercely across the cheek. Stunned, Ed dropped her wrist, his hand moving automatically to his stinging face. This time she made no move to leave.

"Wha-" Ed tried to piece together a coherent question, anger at the sudden slap subdued by his confusion. Winry glared at him, unshed tears making her eyes seem over-bright.

"You have no right to grab at me! Not when you will not even trust me with your memories!" She shouted, balling her small hands into fists. "No right at all, not when you will not even trust in my – in our strength and will to help you, to protect you." She bit her lip viciously, snapping her head downwards and letting her hair fall across her face. If her tears were to fall, she would not let Edward see them this time. Guilt pushed shut Ed's gaping mouth, guiding his hand from his face to rub at the back of his neck in sheepish discomfort. Neither moved for a moment.

"I'm… I'm sorry Winry. Really, I am. I meant to tell you what I had remembered ages ago… I just wasn't so sure on how to deal with it myself, and…" Winry cut him off, her tone softened, just slightly.

"It's not that Ed, not really," she sighed. "I-I'm more angry because even now you won't trust any of us completely. You don't trust us to be able to look after ourselves, make our own decisions, and actually be of any use to you. You're still trying to protect people, even when it's clearly you that is need of help." Ed blinked slowly, a pained look creeping across his features. Even when he was trying to make decisions that would ultimately worry his friends less, he still seemed to be messing it up. Winry jumped as Ed moved forward unexpectedly, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her into his chest. It was times like this when she realised how much taller than her Ed had grown.

"I know it's not an excuse," he said slowly, holding her firmly against him. She was glad her face was pressed against his shirt – always the cry-baby, her eyes were beginning to give into the tears she had been holding back, and her face was flushing rapidly by the second. "but old habits die hard." He squeezed her unintentionally. "I've made so many stupid decisions over these past years. So many stupid, _dangerous_ decisions that pulled in so many of the people that I love. I guess my mentality on the whole matter back then was: 'Why should the people around me have to carry the burden of my mistakes also? Why should they be put at risk for my ill choices?' I decided that I would keep the dangerous things that I invoked to myself to avoid any more deaths, anymore losses of the people most precious to me. I was being immature and selfish, really; it was all to avoid anymore heartache. I didn't want to lose anyone else." Winry swallowed. The front of Ed's shirt was growing increasingly damper. She already knew where he was going with this. He wasn't trying to guilt trip her into backing down; he didn't even realise that was what he was doing. He just always managed to find a way to. "I guess that somehow, I'm still doing all those things now, even though I know I don't need to anymore. Even though I'm supposed to have grown up." He pulled away slightly, holding Winry back in order to look into her eyes. "I'm sorry Winry. I was supposed to have stopped hurting you long ago. I give you my word; I will not keep things from you again." He finished. Winry scrubbed a hand across her eyes. He said that he didn't think he had grown up, but it was the opposite. Ed had gotten so mature it was scary. The old Edward would never have even realised he was doing anything wrong.

She gave him a weak smile.

"You'd better be telling the truth, Edward Elric," She said, the attempt at a stern tone ruined by the after tremors of her silent tears. "or I'll be charging you triple for your automail repairs in the future." He chuckled.

"Well, hopefully I'll be safe from that one. I'm not planning to need to have it repaired anymore times after this one. It would be nice to have the threat of imminent death removed from its favourite place of residence. That place being over our heads." Winry sniffed, biting back a laugh as she swiped at Ed's shoulder.

"What, are you planning on ceasing your fun-filled and usually close to fatal adventures after this is dealt with?" she teased. "I didn't think that the military was so keen to let you go. Ed's face grew serious.

"I was debating it. The Amestrian Military owes me, after all." Even having been back a while now, Ed still made the strange differentiation between the military of this world and that of the one in the…other world. His parallel universe. It unsettled Winry somewhat, though she couldn't quite place her finger on why. Ed continued, failing to notice the effect of his little slip up. "I never wanted to join the military in the first place, it was only ever so that Al and I could have access to otherwise restricted areas during our search for our bodies." His scratched at his head. "It doesn't really make much sense for me to stay enlisted if I can get an out." He mused. Winry raised her eyebrows surprised.

Suddenly there was a disturbance from behind them. Roy was hanging off the hallway door frame, Hughes and Al not far behind, obviously attempting to eavesdrop on their conversation. Ed blushed furiously.

"Oi, General Asshole. How many time have I gotta tell you that the ins and outs of my life are not a spectators event?" he raged, storming down the hallway towards them.

"What? You were taking ages, and we wanted to see what was causing it! And why am I the only one you're screaming at like an angry chimp?" Winry smiled as Ed exploded into one of his usual uncalled for 'don't call me small' rants, slipping back into her seat. Pinako leaned over to her.

"Are you two all sorted out now?" she asked quietly, re-adjusting her glasses. Winry nodded, grateful for her Grandmother's concern. Pinako settled back into her seat, satisfied, and went back to quietly observing Al attempting to wrestle his older brother back into his chair and away from Roy, who had his hands up in amused surrender. She would discuss Ed's musings on leaving the military with him later.

"What are you going to do now, brother?" Al asked, after the commotion Ed had kicked up had died down. "Surely you're not thinking of running back to Central now?" Ed shook his head turning to Winry.

"Winry, you said my arm was finished, right?" Winry's face hardened.

"No Ed. I'm not reattaching your arm when you're in this condition. You need to finish healing." Ed frowned running his hand through his hair.

"I'm not going to go running off anywhere, don't worry. I just want my arm back. I'll heal a hell of a lot faster if I actually feel whole again, and the only thing that will do that for me is my automail." He said firmly. Winry almost smiled at the roundabout compliment to her automail. Almost.

"But the strain it'll put on your body-" she started.

"Is not going to be as bad as it has been in the past." Ed cut in. "Look Win, I've reattached it _myself_ when I've been hurt way worse than this, and far less healed, and I got along just fine. I promise you this; I'm not going to leave Risembool without telling you so first." He finished. Winry chewed her lip, frowning. He had practically read her mind. Her gut was telling her that he would sneak off in the dead of night as soon as his missing limb was restored, but Ed _had_ promised he wouldn't be doing things like that anymore. If she didn't want to sound like a _complete_ hypocrite on the whole 'trust' issue, she'd have to cut him a little slack.

"Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you when you develop a fever from the strain of it all." She muttered. Ed grinned.

"At least I'll have a good nurse to look after me _if_ I do." Winry blushed, swiping at the irritating alchemist.

"Shut up, moron." She mumbled, storming off towards her workshop, slamming the door behind her. Ed laughed, hoisting himself up onto the sturdy kitchen table.

Roy cleared his throat.

"I don't think you should be aggravating the woman who is about to painfully reattach your arm, Fullmetal."

Ed snorted.

"Oh don't worry, she's never coddled me in the past, and that's not going to change now. She'll make sure to spare me no pain when it's reattached." He chuckled darkly, swinging his legs back and forth as he sat on the edge of the table. It was at that moment that an odd grinding clunk resounded through the room. The damaged metal protested as Ed's automail leg swung forwards again and, this time, the metal catch that most definitely should have been securely fastened down to the leg swung open, finally giving up its feeble grasp on Ed's port. Mustang barely dodged the flying chunk of metal as it flew from Ed's stump, crashing into the stack of pots and automail equipment that had been piled by the work surface. Ed flailed comically, thrown off balance further by the loss of _another_ limb, before thudding to the floor for the second time that day.

"What the hell is going on up there?" Winry's voice rang out from her work room, shortly followed by her footsteps in the hallway. Ed's face dropped, the colour leeching rapidly to white.

"Uh-oh." He climbed awkwardly into some semblance of a crawling position and began to scramble ineffectually across the floor towards his leg. Al pressed his hands to his face.

"Brother! What have you done?" He moaned. "Winry's going to kill you!" Ed growled in frustration as he crashed to down again, unable to move without the sudden loss of his balance.

"Shut up! I know! Just help me get it back on!" Al raced across the room to help his brother up as Hughes and Roy looked on with bemusement. Roy raised an eyebrow at his old friend, but it appeared that Hughes was just as clueless as he was at the Elric's sudden panic, merely shrugging.

Al snatched up the rather sorry looking automail leg, whirling around to face his brother, who was _still_ trying to hoist himself up off the floor with only two limbs.

The door burst open.

"Oh God, too late…" Ed's terrified whisper only barely reached Roy's ears. Winry stood in the doorway for a moment, staring blankly at the now one-legged Edward. Her eyes slid slowly over to the leg in Alphonse's arms, her face still arranged into a curious calm.

"Hey, Al?" she asked in a horrifyingly light tone. Alphonse froze.

"U-uh, yeah?" he squeaked.

"Would you care to tell me why your moronic brother's leg is in your hands, and not still attached to his body?" Winry was smiling. This wasn't good.  
"E-er, I…" Al looked desperately at his brother for help, only to find him trying to edge towards the front door by using the table as a crutch.

"Ed!" he wailed, backing away from the doorway that Winry was currently occupying. Abruptly Winry stalked across the room towards Al.

"Wah!" Al shoved the automail arm between them like an outstandingly crappy shield, but Winry merely grabbed it from his hands. The room was silent as she stood there, head lowered, examining the estranged leg. Tilting the limb so that the bottom of the foot was facing upwards, Winry turned to Ed.

"Is this a _bullet_ lodged in the lower heel joint?" her voice was dangerously benign. Ed winced.

"A-ah. Yeah. Haha, I guess I forgot to mention the part with the gun?" he said nervously, the question in his tone hanging pathetically in the air between him. His head was flicking towards the front door – and only current escape route – so often now it looked like he had developed a twitch. Winry laughed. It was petrifying.

"Yeah, I guess you did!" she said sunnily, raising the automail leg over her head and starting towards Ed.

"Arrgh!" In his haste to escape from the rapidly advancing and demonically angry mechanic, he lost his balance yet again, ending up on his backside for what seemed like the millionth time that day.

"EDWARD ELRIC! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY AUTOMAIL?"

The sound that the metal foot made against his head as she screamed 'automail' was spectacular.

* * *

**Rightio, before anyone beheads me due to how late this update is and how crappy the quality was let me explain somewhat! Ulp!**

**Soooorrrryyyy! I've been ridiculously busy with my uni work (I know right? Stupid tutors expecting me to do real work at university! Puh.) and sorting out a new flat for next year with my flatmates. I have also slyly been working on a different FMA fic, which I have not uploaded yet, and probably will not until this one is done. But yeah, as you have probably guessed, multi-tasking is not one of my strong points. Weh.**

**I know this was a pretty short chapter, but I plan to upload the next one this week, as I've come home for the Christmas holidays and haven't got TOO much work to do! :)  
I'm hoping that my stupid country won't live up to its rainy reputation (Britain, if you couldn't tell, haha) and we will get lots and lots of snow so I have an excuse to be stuck inside in my tiny little village writing for days on end. Yaay!**

**As always, constructive criticism, love and reviews are all welcome! :D**

**Thanks for reading!**


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